Five Trigs for Two Radcliffe runners  

Two Radcliffe AC members hit the fells once again this Saturday for the Five Trigs, a 19-mile self-navigated course with 3,000 feet of ascent. This route covered parts of the Pennine Way, visiting 5 local trig points around Delph and Saddleworth with 3,000 feet of ascent. Neil Greenhalgh was back in 3:44:08 and Mark Garner in 4:29:02.  

Some of the Juniors started their Saturday morning at various local parkruns, with Isla at Bolton (37:10), Lexi at Heaton Park (21:42) (PB), and Benjamin (34:00) (PB), Grace (38:05) and Poppy (38:07)(PB) at Clarence Park. Senior Adam Wills also scored a parkrun PB in 21:53 at Heaton Park.  

On Sunday, Tracy Wroe headed to the Yarrow Bluebell 10k, held in Yarrow Country Park, Chorley, a beautiful woodland race amongst the bluebells. Tracy completed this challenging one lap out and back looped course in 1:26:41. 

Elaine Bailey was at the Middlewich 5k, a mostly off road race along the beautiful canals and trails of the town, finishing in 29.03. 

Starting and finishing at Headingley Stadium, Robbie Parkinson had an outstanding race at the Leeds Half Marathon, finishing in a very impressive time of 1:32. 

This week’s racing for Radcliffe AC kicked off on Wednesday with a good club turnout at the latest Run the Moors fixture, Foe Edge. This 7.2km fell race with 300m of elevation set off from near Cowpe Village Hall in Rossendale, taking runners along a breathtaking but challenging route through the hills. The first back for the club was Khama Banda, putting in a spectacular performance on his first go at the fells in 38:58, followed by Chris Mihalyi (44:46), Neil Greenhalgh (46:26), Lucie Tighe (51:03), Nathan Walker (52:09), Jack Connor (54:59), Chemane Thomas (57:01), Stephen Crowe (58:29), Karen Doherty (58:42), Mark Garner (59:00), Laura Aiken (1:03:32), Charlotte Holden-Malone (1:07:35), Ethan Holden-Malone (1:07:39) and Lisa Riley (1:11:49).  

Two of Wednesday’s runners were tempted back to the fells on Saturday by the promise of baked goods at the Cake Race, a 10-mile moorland course with 1700ft of climb through the Pennines. Chris Mihalyi, motivated by the hope of profiteroles on the stalls, was back to the finish line in 1:31:32, followed closely by Neil Greenhalgh in 1:32:26.  

This week boasted not one but two similarly-themed club championship races, with It’s a Piece of Cake 10k taking place at Boggart Hole Clough. 19 RAC members braved the brutal hill of this course through the scenic park three times, with Neil Swithenbank back from the third undulating lap in 42:16, followed by Mark Garner (46:03), Mark Taylor (47:21), Paula Abernethy (48:41), Daniel Hunt (48:54), John Szubert (50:06), Chemane Thomas (50:46), Sheila Jones (50:58), Paul Stevens (51:33), Amanda Callan (51:57), Ken Smith (52:32), Lucie Tighe (53:01), Laura Aiken (54:03), Karen Doherty (56:10), Kathryn Davies (58:17), Sarah Wilson (59:23), Cath Jones (1:02:15), Peter Warr (1:04:25) and Sheila McNulty (1:15:55).  

This week’s challenge for the club’s most prolific ultra runner, Kath Biddle, was the Pennine Barrier Ultra 50. Kath conquered this 50-mile course in the Yorkshire Dales in 14:42:35, covering 8,507ft of elevation gain, taking in landmarks like Malham Cove, Malham Tarn, and the Yorkshire Three Peaks,Pen-y-Ghent, Whernside and Ingleborough.  

There were yet more PBs for the juniors at Alexandra parkrun, with Seth finishing in 22:14 and Lexi in 22:18. 

On Sunday, Andrew O’Donnell reaped the rewards of a recent solid block of training, scoring an impressive PB at the Newcastle-Gateshead Marathon of just 3:19:33!  

Swinton RC also hosted Worsley Woods Ladies 5 Mile Trail Race, a one lap course around Salford's largest conservation area and along the Bridgewater canal , with Tracy Wroe finishing in 57:04. 

This Wednesday, Karen Doherty enjoyed weaving the streets of Keswick in the sunshine over at the Keswick Round the Houses 4.5 mile race, which she finished in 41:07.  

On Saturday, Tracy Wroe celebrated the fantastic milestone of 250 parkruns over at Peel. 

Seven senior members also made the most of the week’s lovely weather at the Blackpool Festival of Running 10k. After setting off from the North Promenade, Mark Williams was the first back in just 40:48, picking up first MV60, followed by Neil Swithenbank (41:40) (PB), Daniel Hunt (47:29), Nathan Walker (47:43) (PB), Cameron Sharples (47:56) (PB), Alison Howarth (58:32) and Peter Warr (59:27). 

Five juniors also hit the 2k event in the festival, with Seth achieving not only a PB but also third place overall in 8:05, followed by William (9:48) (PB), Grace (16:06), Alexandra (16:06) (with the two girls finding time to rescue a dog mid-run and completing the majority of the course hand in hand) and Benjamin (17:34).  

On Sunday, the club’s Chairperson, Simon Foulkes, headed to this year’s record-breaking London Marathon raising money for the Brain Tumour Charity. Simon, finishing in an impressive time of 3:39:07, has raised £3,500 so far in honour of friend Tristan Cano, despite suffering a badly sprained ankle due to a projectile water bottle halfway through the course. To read more about Tristan’s story and donate, please visit www.justgiving.com/page/sifoulkeslondon. 

Simon was joined by three other club members who also put in fantastic performances, with Steven Fawcett the first to finish in only 3:29:34(PB) along with Emma Horner (3:55:59) (PB) and Laura Tracey (4:36:06) (PB).  

Paul Stevens also completed the unofficial reverse London Marathon at midnight, which he completed in 5:11:51 before supporting teammates on the official course in the morning.