Shepherds Skyline

Nine fell runners flew the flag for Chorley on a cold afternoon in Todmorden.

Fell fanatic Darren Fishwick had another cracking run of 50:55 to finish 23rd place in a large, quality field. Then, arguably the day's star performance came from 1st lady Lynne Clough with a brilliant 56:01.

Next back, Gary Platt (91st) posted an excellent time of 59:59 to beat the hour mark and, also, the duo of Paul Jackson (112, 61:42) and the in-form Dave Kershaw (114, 62:00). Michael Hendry (136, 64.33) managed to hold off Glyn Denver (158, 65:49) after a tussle atop Stoodley Pike.

John Minton (242) once again bagged the first V70 slot with a fine run in 78:48, followed by Graham Schofield (253) with a solid outing to complete the picture for Chorley.

As a fell-running novice, I found the weather almost as difficult to read as the terrain with some tricky sections along the Pennine Way skyline. The "windmill technique" was adopted several times as poor balance and soft ground did their best to try and floor me on a number of occasions! The horizontal hail-stones in the closing stages were a reminder of just how quickly Pennine conditions can change, even in a short race.

Overall, a good day for Chorley's runners. Well done to Darren, Lynne, John and the rest!

Results

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