We have now had confirmation that we have been promoted following the last match in the Northen T&F league. The team is a joint one with Burnley AC and has had a great season. We would also like to thank of those people who gave up their own time to act as track judges, timekeepers and field officials in support of the team.
Pilgrim’s Cross Fell Race (Rossendale) 11-08-2010
Again our little band of young fell runners have been out and about again on their travels, this time taking part in the Pilgrim’s Cross Fell Race. This race is part of the Rossendale Grand Prix series which these young runners have been taking part in. Out of the 5 Pendle AC runners in this race, Pendle came away with 4 first places and 1 second place, which was a fantastic achievement by our young runners. Again credit must go to their coaches down at Seedhill.
All runners went straight out in to the front in their races and led all the way round and here are the results.
Alex Baker was our first girl runner home, coming first girl in the U10s Girls Race and not to be out done by his little sister Gregan Baker was the first boy home in the U10s Boys Race. Also in the Boys U10s race was Joe Lonsdale who had the race of his life and was hot on the heels of Gregan, giving Pendle a one two in the U10s Boys Race.
Next was the U12 Boys race and Thomas Marchant went off like a rocket and never looked back leading all the way round with a couple of his rivals from Rossendale Harriers and Todmorden Harriers hot on his heels. He held on to come in first and this was his first win on the fells.
Last but not least was our ever reliable James Marchant who after another tumble (hopefully not to much damage) came in first in the U14s boys race.
Well done to all 5 of you for running fantastically in not so brilliant conditions (Heavy rain)
Richard Marchant
This league consists of 4 matches and we competed in the northern NW1 division and finished 7th out of 9 teams. This means that we stay in this league for next season, with Horwich having been promoted and Ribble Valley and Bury demoted.
The club had some good early results but the last two meetings weren’t as well attended, with one being in Carlisle and the other over in Yorkshire. We do subsidise coach travel to these more distant meetings and we would encourage families to come along for a day out.
Fifteen junior club members ran at Cowling gala fell race and it sounds like they all had a good time. It was great to see such a good turnout. Does anyone have any pictures? Results are on www.bofra.co.uk.
There are a number of us who regularly run on the fells and can suggest good races for different ages; if you are interested have a chat with Paul or with Richard Marchant.
The calendar on the right hand side has dates of lots of events both T&F and fell.
From Richard Marchant:
Today our little band of intrepid fell runners were in action again this time at the BOFRA Farleton Knott Fell Race. There was some great racing, producing some good results for our youngsters.
First into action was little Alex Baker, who ran superbly, to come in first girl in the U9s race.
Next into action were the U12s and once again, just like Ambleside Sports, it did not disappoint. A close fought race, saw Tiarnan Crorken leading the Pendle runners back in with a brilliant gutsy run coming in 2nd just behind Charlie Lowrie from the Wharfedale. Not too far behind came Thomas Marchant 6th and Gregan Baker 7th and not a cat’s whisker between them. Gregan had a fantastic sprint finish and Thomas only just managed to hold on to 6th position. Well done to all three lads for some superb racing.
A lone figure again for Pendle saw our James Marchant run a hard race, including several falls in the bracken and on the scree, in the U14s coming 8th behind a strong contingent of Wharfedale runners.
A number of former club members were also running in all age groups which is good to see.
Last but not least, two older members of Pendle AC ran in the seniors race of 4.5 miles and 1500 feet. Paul Wilson and Richard Marchant ,who both had good runs,and managed to get back down safe and sound with out any injuries.
Again a big well done to all the Pendle runners.
This coming weekend there are a variety of races ranging from the serious – Borrowdale, to the local – Boulsworth Moor, to the low key – Cray. Boulsworth is a new senior race and part of the Burnley and Pendle Grand Prix series. It goes from Trawden Show at 10.30am on Sunday, but allow plenty of time for parking due to Show traffic (Ok so yes I can walk to the start!). Afterwards enjoy all the fun at the agricultural show which is one of the largest one day shows in the north.
Congratulations to Helena Leathley, Charlotte Beech and James Blackburn – selected to represent Lancashire at the Northern Inter Counties at Gateshead at the end of August.
Thursday 29th July saw a small band of Pendle AC Fell runners travel to the Lake District for the annual Ambleside Sports Show. A traditional Cumbrian County show with a very full programme of events ranging from Hound racing to Cumbrian Wrestling and a Unicycle event.
The organisers could not have asked for better weather as the skies turned blue ish and the sun shone here and there for the day to give excellent conditions for running and for the rest of the events. Either side of Thursday had been low cloud and that fine rain that soaks you through.
Well on to the BOFRA races and to start things off was the U12s race. This is where the Pendle runners set the standard for the day. With 11 seconds separating three of our runners overall, Tiarnan Crorken lead this group in, coming 4th and literally hot on his heels was the ever improving Morgan Ratcliffe in 5th postion and coming in strong only a few seconds behind Morgan was Thomas Marchant in 6th position. All three lads are running really well at the minute on the fells, which is a credit to their coach Noel. Noel has brought these lads on great guns, it is looking good for Pendle AC and the U13 Mid Lancs X-Country season coming up later in the year.
As there was no U10s race, two of our younger members had to join in with the U12s and they did not look out of place. They both had fantastic runs against some of the Lake District’s best fell runners with Joe Lonsdale coming in 17th and again another close finish with Joe Alderman coming in 18th. These two lads supported the other three Pendle runners brilliantly and considering there were 47 in this race did extremely well, which again goes to the credit of their coaches down at Seedhill.
Now on to two lone runners in their races starting with the U14s. James Marchant ran well in his race coming in 9th position. As usual he put his heart and soul and a little bit extra in to this race and ran very well and was hot on the heels of some very good Wharfedale and Helm Hill runners.
In the U17s was Lucy Alderman who had a tough race against again some of the best fell runners in that age group and came in 6th girl and 17th overall. Well done Lucy.
Last but not least was the seniors race where two regular Pendle fell runners ran. These took the form of Sam Richards who is always up amongst the leaders mixing it up, coming in a brilliant 16th. Showing good form and a good supporting role was our Chairman Paul Wilson, well done lads.
Richard Marchant
PS Richard doesn’t mention that he competed in the 9 mile Rydal Round race which happens before the Guides races. This follows the Fairfield Horseshoe and I believe that Richard finished in a very creditable time of about 1 hour 50 minutes. If anyone has walked this famous route then they will know it as a tough day out.
The Club continues to meet throughout the school holidays on Mondays and Wednesdays from 7pm to 8pm at Seedhill. New members are welcome on either night from age 8 upwards.
Coaches and club officials are going to be absent at various times but we will continue to cater for everyone even if some squads are temporarily run together.
Just a reminder that athletes aged 8 to 10 years should be in the young athlete group and those aged 10/11 to 13 years should be in the intermediate squad. Exceptions to this are only for existing athletes known to the coaches and by specific agreement with a coach that includes making sure that they are aware how old the athlete is.
This approach is in line with England Athletics guidelines and is aimed at the long term retention and success of young athletes. Our coaches are all trained to develop young athletes in line with their actual age, training age and abilities. An early move to a specialist squad is often not in the young person’s interest.
Lots of people look at our website to see what has been going on and what is planned (including from Australia). At the moment there is only one parent who sends me reports, I write everything else. Obviously this means that reports are biased towards events that I attend because I don’t think there is much value in me writing reports merely based on results, nor do I have the time.
A number of people have asked for a picture gallery and we are working on this. However what we really need is reports for YAL, mid lancs and northern league meetings. I can add a couple of photographs to each report but please send me these at a low resolution (normally sized less than 100kb) which is perfectly suitable for screen use. A number of people, including me, only have slower speed internet access and large photographs can be very slow.
Please help!
Paul
Former club member Sophie has triumphed at the world junior championships in Canada. With a new UK junior record of 66.01m she beat the best junior hammer throwers in the world in hot conditions with her last throw of the competition.
