Superb effort by Harriers on Pennines

3:04pm Wednesday 6th February 2008

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New Chorley Harriers captain Peter Gilham entered the club into the Pennine Bridleway Relays for the first time in their history and his team of ten did put in a superb effort, earning a place on the prize board to finish second placed in the mixed pairs category, and a commendable 27th from 76 teams overall.

The race is run over five legs of the Mary Towneley Loop, a 47 mile route up and down the bleak moorlands between Burnley and Rochdale. Anna Maria Crabtree and Nicola Raby were up and running at 8:30am for the first leg from Waterfoot, near Rawtenstall.

They got the Harriers off to a great start when covering 8.5 miles in a time of 1.15.33 before handing over to Dominic Raby and John Sutton on Worsthorne Moor for leg 2. Raby and Sutton were expected to make a considerable impact on the Harriers' overall position and duly obliged when passing 19 rival teams over their 12.5 mile stretch which they covered in 1.33.48. Lynne Clough and Natasha Fellows took over for the third leg, which involved the most ascent, with 1570ft to climb over a distance of 9 miles from the village of Charlestown to the hamlet of Summit. The pair held firm with a strong run in 1.14.45 and the team were already looking good for silverware at this stage in the mixed event. Gary Platt and Nikki Rushton ran the fourth leg to Whitworth, the shortest of the legs with 5 miles to cover, but again few got past this Harriers pairing either, making the final changeover in a time of 51.01. Paul Jackson and Steve Thomas took on the fifth and final leg back to Waterfoot, gaining another overall placing on the way with a time of 1.21.49 over a tough 11 miles, earning the club a total finishing time of 6.16.56 and an excellent first attempt at this popular annual event.