Breidden Hills results final fell counter 9th october 2011

Hi all – Results now out for the final fell counter of the season which took place at Breidden Hills Sun 9^th October for those that fancied a little altitude as an alternative to the Chester tarmac. A tough race with a strong field that included three intrepid Helsby runners making the expedition.

As can be seen from the quality photos below, lots of colour and an interesting route with Steve Riley romping home in first place for Helsby, swiftly followed by Phil and Andy

www.fellrunningpictures.co.uk

Helsby positions and places as below

92^nd Steve Riley 1:18:37

105^th Phil Gillard 1:20:30

124^th Andy Smith 1:30:26

Full results can be found on www.merciafellrunners.org.uk. Ian Landucci will update the final fell series standings shortly

Regards

Adair

Chester marathon results and race report from Gareth Boyd

Hi all

Huge congratulations are in order for the seven Helsby runners who ran the marathon today at Chester. Fantastic effort by all for some really great times, in what, I presume, was quite a windy race.

Chester Marathon website here: http://www.chestermarathon.co.uk/home.aspx

Helsby runners and positions as follows:

636^th                Gareth Boyd                03:43:04

1151^st              Ivan Davies                  04:04:06

1154^th              David Madders           04:04:10

1803^rd              Michael Mcshane       04:37:14

1907^th              John Thompson           04:41:54

2125^th              Chris Igoe                    05:00:59

2237^th              Ivor Johnstone             05:16:38

Atmospheric race report from Gareth Boyd below to help give you an idea of the day:

So a day on from Chester Marathon and yes whilst I currently move/shuffle around like an extra from a Zombie movie – all I can really say about Chester Marathon is – great course, great weather, a PB and more!

Having had hardly any sleep on Friday night – tight chest/cold – I really thought running was a ‘no go’ but zipping up the ‘man suit’ and having a supportive wife (although she does think there was nothing wrong with me, just anxiety!), I managed to get to the start line.

The race course is a great venue and the weather was perfect throughout. With a relatively small field (4000) it was great and a nice surprise to bump into Chris, Ivor and Mike at the start. Whilst there was a slight delay to the official start time (traffic), good crowd support and an excitable Town Cryer helped to lift excitement.

The first few miles actually takes runners through Chester City Centre and its famous landmarks before leading you out to the Welsh border and beyond. Volunteers (at drink stations) were really enthusiastic throughout – even Elvis could be seen handing out drinks at mile 14/15!, whilst local village crowds/support got into the spirit of things/cheering us on – I think I even saw a fellow Helsby running club member in the crowds. It was great to run with Ivan and Dave for about 5 miles – thanks again for the ‘magic’ pill, Ivan!

After mile 18, it was really a case of ‘digging in’ and getting to the end as quickly as possible in one piece. The final few miles (including a ‘hill’ at mile 24 ) took runners back into the City – with the last mile plus passing along the Dee (with a nice brass band playing) and entrance back into the racecourse for a Grandstand finish. Ok, maybe I did ‘show boat’ a little but I’m pleased to say I finally went sub 4.

As a local ‘marathon’ I would definitely recommend this race/event and I am certain participant numbers will grow year on year. 2 other memorable things worth mentioning a) the crazy women driver (mile 23) who was determined to mow down as many runners as possible and b) getting the chance to say ‘hello’ to MarathonTalk’s (www.marathontalk.com) Tony Audenshaw (AKA – Bob from Emmerdale).