Staged in front of the impressive Derwent Dam in the Peak District, Saturday 19th saw 4 Todmorden Harriers teams compete in the British Fell Relays around Derwent Reservoir, organised this year by Dark Peak Fell Runners. The relay comprises 4 legs – the first was a solo leg of 7.65 kilometres with 360 metres of climb. Leg 2 saw pairs cover 12.3 kilometres ascending 484 metres. Leg 3 was the navigation test, again for pairs running roughly 11.2 kilometres with 520-570 metres of climb. Finally, a solo runner completed Leg 4 – 7.85 kilometres and 375 metres of climb. A total of 224 teams from running clubs across the country completed all four legs over heather, bog and muddy descents.
Of the eleven teams competing in the V40 Women’s category, the Tod Harrier women – Rebecca Patrick/Melanie Blackhurst/Emma Fiedler/Claire Duffield/Sally Chesworth/Kate Mansell (pictures) continued their winning form to secure a silver medal in a total time of 5.37.50, behind Dark Peak, who emphatically won in a time of 5.07.59.
In the women’s open category, Helm Hill proved the strongest of the 49 teams, finishing in 4.34.13. The Todmorden Harriers Women’s Open Team (Ambi Swindells/Rosa Blackwell/Zoe Dijkman/Pauline May/Louise Greenwood/Catherine Elvin) enjoyed their day and ran well to finish 40th in 6.41.45.
Competition was strong amongst the 34 V40 men’s teams. With Calder Valley Men’s V40 took the win in 4.06.27, the Tod Harrier V40 men finished 11th in 4.32.25 (Paul Hobbs/Nick Barber/Ian Symington/Chris Goddard/Dwayne Dixon/Graeme Brown). The Tod Harriers men’s open team (Andy Ford/Tristan Langlois/Ben Holmes/Ricky Parrish/Darren Graham/Andy McFie) ran well to finish 38th/80th in 4.39.40 with the mighty Keswick winning in 3.40.33.