2014 Whafedale TTT
English Junior Championship Counter (inc. Yorkshire Junior Championships)
On Sunday 13th July, Bingley Harriers were proud to host the last round in the 2014 FRA English Junior Fell Championship at our TTT weekend in Kettlewell and the event also acted as this year’s Junior Yorkshire Championships.
Despite persistent and at times heavy overnight rain which extended into the morning, by the time people started to arrive to register the skies were clearing and the rain had stopped. By race time the sun was shining and heat rather than rain was more the concern.
A full set of brand new courses had been planned to challenge all age groups from under 8 through to under 18 with senior runners racing over the same course as the under 16 and under 18 juniors.
When planning the courses, the intention was to make full use of the stunning Kettlewell scenery. My aim was to create true Yorkshire Dales fell courses that would offer challenging climbs, some technical underfoot conditions and some fast running to really test the all-round off road abilities of the junior athletes. With a wide range of abilities to cater for it’s always difficult to draw a good balance but looking at the winning times and the slowest times in each category and the very low number of DNFs I think we pitched it just about right.
After the races, some juniors said they were the best courses they had ever run and some said they were too hard – the majority said ‘tough but good’ – I guess that’ll do for me.
The under 8s got proceedings underway and Billy Smith of Rossendale and Patrick Casey of CVFR battled hard for first and second place with Oliver Bailey of Merica coming home in 3rd. The battle for top under 8 girl was even closer with Lilly Philbin of Bolton taking the win from Hannah Robinson of KCAC by just 1 second and Maggie Hudson also of KCAC came in 3rd just 16 seconds later.
Next came the under10s race which ended with a little more drama than I expected or indeed wanted as Charlie Whitehead of KCAC took a very nasty fall on the decent to the finish resulting in a twisted neck. The St Johns team were quickly on the scene and after assessing Charlie they decided to call Fell Rescue to help get him safely off the hill. It’s truly horrible when something goes wrong, especially when it’s a child that’s injured, but situations like this can also bring out the best in people. Charlie was comforted on the hill by medics, friends, parents, spectators and fellow competitors before being given a standing ovation as he was stretchered to a waiting ambulance by the Upper Wharfedale Fell Rescue team. I am delighted to report that his dad called me later the same day to say he’d been checked at the hospital and he was absolutely fine.
Whilst all this was happening, Cian Healy of Horwich Harriers made the steep climb through the wooded crag look easy as he stormed to an impressive victory ahead of Sam Smith of Wharfedale and Jath Lee of KCAC. The under 10 girls race was won by Olesia Winder of Hoad Hill with Alice Jones of Wharfedale just 5 seconds behind in 2nd place and Beth Blacker of CVFR in 3rd place.
With the course up and down the finish field re-routed slightly to avoid poor old Charlie, the Under 12s hit the hill. Their route took them up the steep wooded crag to a second climb up and across the fell to a gate where they picked up a track that led them back towards the village before a final cheeky climb up through the woods and along to the finish field. Sam Almond of Eden made short work of the tough little course and came home a full 21 seconds clear of next man Ben Edmondson of Broughton. Louis Hudson of KCAC pushed Ben all the way to finish in 3rd just 3 seconds later. In the girls’ race Briony Holt of Clayton-Le-Moors had a superb run to come home 46 seconds clear of 2nd place finisher Chloe Rylance of Ambleside with Lilli Car of KCAC taking 3rd place just 2 seconds later.
The start of the under 14s race was delayed as the Fell Rescue team asked us to keep the way clear to allow them to bring Charlie off the hill but all the competitors were very understanding and enjoyed their extended ‘warm up’ in the sunshine. Once racing commenced, the under 14s were presented with a very tough out and back course that had been hastily re-planned just the week before due to the appearance of an impassable barbed wire fence that prevented us from running the original route.
The tough climb proved no match for Nathan Smith of City of York who cruised to victory in just over 20 minutes. Joshua Dickenson came home just 14 seconds later to make it a York 1-2 with Thomas Nelson of Wharfedale hot on his heels taking 3rd place just 5 seconds behind. Esme Davies of Eden runners had a superb run to take 1st place 28 seconds ahead of Katie Atkinson of KCAC with Imogen Burrow of Helm Hill rounding out the top 3.
Next it was the turn of the under 16s and 18s who faced a tough 4 mile loop that took them half way up the flank of Great Whernside before traversing them across a stretch of wild and tussocky moorland to Hag Dyke hostel. From here they enjoyed a magnificent blast back down to Kettlewell along a smooth grassy bridleway before crossing a stream and being sent back up a steep climb into the trees and along to the finish. I’d guessed at a finishing time of around 35 minutes but rising star James Hall of Wharfedale smashed my prediction to blast the course in just over 30!
First in the under 16 boys’ category was Tyler Hutchinson of City of York who had a fantastic run posting a time of 31.32. Next home was Christopher Richards of Helm Hill who finished just 16 seconds behind Tyler and a couple of minutes ahead of 3rd place finisher Thomas Marchant of Pendle. In the girls under 16s race Emma Clapton of Scarborough ran strongly to take the win in 36.18 after being pushed hard by 2nd place finisher Lucy Haines of Ilkley who came home just 10 seconds later. Scarlet Dale of Lancaster and Morecambe closed out the top three with a fine run coming home in 37.34.
James Hall was always going to be the man to beat in the Under 18s race and so it was that he crossed the line ahead of the pack in a brilliant time of 30.22. His victory was far from easy though as Lewis Byram of Holmfirth pushed him all the way to come home in 2nd place just 18 seconds later. Jack Hindle of Blackburn ran a strong race to take 3rd place in a time of 33.07.
The under 18 ladies’ race saw Jennifer Willison of Derby AC take the victory with just over a minute to spare from Bronwen Jenkinson of Eryri in 2nd place. Issy Wharton of CVFR took 3rd spot just a minute later to round off a brilliant day’s racing.
The Yorkshire Championship awards were presented by Eileen and Dave Woodhead in the style that we’ve now all become accustomed to and the ensuing chocolate throw out gave one last chance for the juniors to test their reflexes and reaction skills before the day’s racing came to a close – Yorkshire Championship Results will be posted on www.woodentops.org.uk
As organiser of the junior races I would like to take this opportunity to thank you all for coming to our event and sincerely hope you enjoyed your time in Kettlewell.
In these times when the media would have us believe that all kids do is play video games it’s refreshing and encouraging to see so many young individuals turn up to compete and have fun doing what we were designed to do – run!
I would also like to say that the general standard of behaviour and sportsmanship shown by all the athletes was absolutely superb – whether you came first in your race or last, you are all a credit to yourselves and your sport.
On a final note, although Charlie Whitehead gave us all a scare, his dad said that as he got a spot prize, a standing ovation, a ride in an ambulance and an offer to go and look around the Fell Rescue headquarters, he thought he’d had a great day!
Hope to see you on the hill again soon.
Andy Nicoll
Bingley Harriers