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 7th. NYMAC results below:
15th Bryan Saysell 96.18 (2nd in category)
32nd Gary Thoms 105.01 (3rd in in category)
63rd Eddie Meehan 126.31 (1st in category)
76th Phil Highes-N’bro 133.00
88th 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 6th and the women out did us with 3rd. NYMAC results below:
16th Paul Christon 97.14 (2nd in category)
37th Gary Thoms 105.38 (3rd in category)
61st David Allison 117.11
65th Caroline Graham 119.16
76th Di Jobson 123.05 (2nd in category)
83rd Eddie Meehan 124.15 (1st 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!?
- Eddie Meehan 79 (from 3 races)
- Gary Thoms 46 (from 2 races)
- Paul Christon 42 (from 2 races)
- Bryan Saysell 29 (from 1 race)
- David Allison 25 (from 1 race)
In the women’s competition Di is leading, closely pursued by Caroline
- Di Jobson 46 (from 2 races)
- Caroline Graham 40 (from 2 races)
- Claire Lowe 18 (from 1 race)
- Helen Duggleby 13 (from 1 race)
- 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 27th 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