Paul Leary approaching the final ascent

(picture reproduced here with the kind permission of Keith Parkinson Computing Services, Todmorden)

THE AREA fell race Grand Prix series got off to a flying start last weekend with the Noon Stone race near Todmorden.  The series involves athletes from 5 clubs competing in up to eleven established fell races, with the best six results counting.  

With hindsight, Noon Stone was not an ideal opening race to encourage newcomers to the fells.  As if the 2300ft of ascent over 9 miles wasn’t enough, much of the course was unmarked and passed over very difficult terrain.   

The tussocks and heather took their toll with several members of Rochdale Harriers falling up to half a dozen times.   The bogs were a wild card, trying to claim fell shoes for their own.   Very strong winds added to the challenge, blowing out the contact lens of one of the Rochdale team.

The race attracted a very high standard of competitor.  John Brown of Salford Harriers and Janet McIver of Dark Peak won the men’s and ladies races. 

Rochdale’s first finisher from eight was Paul Leary. Although Leary is relatively new to fell running he completed the race in an impressive 1 hr 34 min 9 sec.  Mark Walker followed two minutes later, slicing 4 minutes off his previous best time despite the punishing conditions.  In third position for Rochdale was Bob Graham Round veteran Nigel Shaw (1.38.12).  Martin O’Reilly’s fast descending skills took him past Norman Eames in the final stages.

While this was a particularly tough opening event due to the terrain, it still attracted around 47 athletes from the five Grand Prix clubs and over 160 from other clubs.  The next few races in the series are much more suitable for newcomers to the fells. 

The results for Rochdale were as follows:  

Paul Leary, 1:34:09; Mark Walker, 1:36:37; Nigel Shaw, 1:38:12; Martin O'Reilly,  1:38:17;  Norman Eames, 1:38:36;  Stephen Leak, 1:39:39; Dennis Lucas, 1:41:58;  John Mayall, 1:45:49.