Fell Update April 2014

Fell Update April 2014

Race round up

Some good performances in the 2 toughest fell races in the Esk Valley series, both of which are included in our fell trophies.  Bryan Saysell was again our best performer in the Blakey Blitz, with good performances too from Gary Thoms, Eddie Meehan, Phil Hughes-Narborough and Rob Eveson to bring the men’s team home in 7^th.  NYMAC results below:

15^th Bryan Saysell               96.18 (2^nd in category)

32^nd Gary Thoms                105.01 (3^rd in in category)

63^rd Eddie Meehan              126.31 (1^st in category)

76^th Phil Highes-N’bro          133.00

88^th Rob Eveson                  158.30

3 weeks later on Sunday just gone and it was Gisborough Moors.  Eddie once again took an age category win but NYMAC did quite well on the day with several bottles of wine won (thankyou Eddie for picking mine up after I made a quick getaway to watch the Paris-Roubaix bike race!).  Ged Dixon finished in 94th place in 128.55 earning him 2nd in the M65 age category, Ged scores 29 points for this performance which puts him joint 4th in 2014 the club fell championship.  Well done Ged. 

The men’s team were 6^th and the women out did us with 3^rd.  NYMAC results below:

16^th Paul Christon                  97.14 (2^nd in category)

37^th Gary Thoms                   105.38 (3^rd in category)

61^st David Allison                  117.11

65^th Caroline Graham            119.16

76^th Di Jobson                      123.05 (2^nd in category)

83^rd Eddie Meehan                124.15 (1^st in category)

Fell Championships Latest

This year there are two important changes.  Firstly I have tinkered with the scoring system to weight certain races a bit higher, reflecting their difficulty.  The 2 races above carried a 10 point additional rating on top of the points scored for age category performance.  Secondly, and perhaps more importantly we now have a separate trophy for men and women, rather than an overall trophy.  Full result tables will go up on the website after the next 2 races but in the meantime here are the leading positions.

3 races in to the men’s competition Eddie has taken an early lead taking advantage of my new scoring system, how can he be stopped!?

1. Eddie Meehan          79 (from 3 races)
2. Gary Thoms              46 (from 2 races)
3. Paul Christon           42 (from 2 races)
4. Bryan Saysell           29 (from 1 race)
5. David Allison                        25 (from 1 race)

In the women’s competition Di is leading, closely pursued by Caroline

1. Di Jobson                  46 (from 2 races)
2. Caroline Graham     40 (from 2 races)
3. Claire Lowe               18 (from 1 race)
4. Helen Duggleby       13 (from 1 race)
5. Lucy Clough             11 (from 1 race)

We are only 3 races in to a 21 race series and with your best 6 results to count there’s plenty of opportunity to mount a challenge.  The next 2 counting races are the Fox and Hounds Chase (5 point weighting) and the 3 Peaks (20 point weighting), both are on 27^th April.

Easy Fell Training

These are now running on Mondays at 6.30 and have had 9 and 13 people turn up to the first two.  Full details are on the website and if people keep showing up I’ll continue them over the summer.

Kit Requirements

If you enter a Fell Runners Association (FRA) approved race there are new kit requirements, details of which are on their site and also on the Esk Valley site as their races fall in to this category.  My understanding is that discretion can be shown for most of the local races but to be on the safe side if you enter one of their races it is best to turn up with the kit and some means of carrying it e.g. a bumbag.  For the longer more challenging races such as the 3 Peaks or the Borrowdale full kit will be required so please check if you are doing these type of races.

Thanks

Paul Christon