Kettlewell Fell Race Results
Sunday 15 June 2008
Race Report
Kettlewell attracted record numbers in our latest event. It also attracted the rain, making conditions on the limestone course fairly hazardous. But fortune favours the brave and in the senior event Ted Mason excelled putting nearly half a minute between him and Alistair Dunn, making the championship look very interesting. This was a race for young guns with four under 23's in the top seven. Sam Tosh and Tom Addison were third and fourth and new to the seniors, Jack Thompson and James Mountain took sixth and seventh. Bruce Elsworth, who has run BOFRA races in every age group put in a sterling performance to finish in an incredible 5th place. First vet 40 and 9th place overall was Mark Croasdale, Peter Wilkin of Thirsk took the vet 45 prize and Jack Holt the vet 50.
The Ladies did us proud with 18 of them competing, these were led home by Holmfirth's Lisa Lacon who put in a brilliant performance with three quarters of the senior runners behind her. Helen Glover and Jennifer Dunn kept their eyes on the ladies championship with a second and third. First lady vet was Carol Life.
The under 17's once again changed hands with Tom Sessford holding off Johnny Bradshaw in a very competitive 31 runner race. These were followed in by Coniston Gullies winner; Matt Fretwell, with Helm duo Tom Doyle and Jos Addison closely following. In the under 17's girls Emma Flanagan put in an impressive performance with quite a wide margin over second place Melanie Hyder. Third place went to Emma Spencer. This age group is very strong and everything is earned the hard way with a great deal of effort.
The under 14's boys saw James Knox keep Ryan Croasdale at bay - these two lads are having quite a battle at the front. Following these were Sam Westcott, Daniel Walsh and James Hall in a very competitive race. The girls race was once again won by Lauren Munro Bennett with Keighley's Pippa Barrett and Charlotte Cox collecting second and third prizes.
The under 12's saw Ben Johnstone collect his 3rd BOFRA win this year, with William Smith and David Goad taking second and third. The girls were led home by another athlete with a clean slate this season; Lorna Jo Nunwick, with Megan Solomon and Ellamae Gibson in second and third places. This was a great turnout for the under 12's with 33 runners.
Considering we don't have an under 9's championship we still managed to attract 35 up and coming runners. In our under 9's races we like to think that our courses are not too severe in their introduction to fell running but I implore parents not to put them off running at an early age by putting too much pressure on them, it should be enjoyable when you are this age. Anyway getting back on to the under 9's race, Helm's Lewis Goad led home probably our biggest under 9's field with second and third places going to Joshua Newbold and Ben Singleton. The girl's first second and third were Emily Cox, Lucy White and Amy Wescott.
Well done to all our competitors and a big thank you to everyone who were involved in the smooth running of the races on a very wet day.
Hope to see you all again at Helm.
Barry Scholes