Big wins in famous fell race for athletes also chasing World Mountain and Trail Championships places

68th THREE PEAKS, Horton-in-Ribblesdale, April 29

The 68th running of the classic Yorkshire Three Peaks race, supported by Inov-8, was held on Saturday (April 29). The approximate 23.5 miles course, with 1600m of climbing, takes in the three classic peaks of Pen y Ghent, Whernside and Ingleborough, Adrian Stott reports

This year’s race also acted as a trial for the short trail event at the World Mountain and Trail Running Championships, being held in Innsbruck in June.

Thomas Roach of Lewes led the men to the summit of Pen y Ghent and had a 30-second lead from a small chasing group that included Sasha Chepelin (Carnethy), Finlay Wild (Lochaber), Jarlath McKenna (Tyne Bridge) and Chris Holdsworth (Clayton).

Roach was to hold the lead on the long trail section to the Ribblehead Viaduct checkpoint at 11 miles. Chepelin and Holdsworth were around 45 seconds down. Wild and Mercia’s Dan Connolly were a further minute behind. On the long climb up to the second summit of Whernside, Roach maintained his lead. Wild with the fastest split up the hill closed to within 30 seconds vying with Chepelin for 2nd.

By the time the third summit, Ingleborough, was reached at approximately 19 miles, Roach had extended his lead to almost five minutes over Chepelin. Connolly now held third with Wild back in fourth.

Roach ran a strong descent, and took the win in 2:53:28. Chepelin, despite a nasty fall on the descent, hung on for second in 3:00:14. A fast-finishing Connolly recorded 3:00:30 for third.

Roach is originally from Sussex but has lived in Austria for the last few years. His previous successes include victories at Austria’s Tour de Tirol in 2022, together with 15th place at last year’s classic Sierre Zinal race.

In the women’s race, Helm Hill’s Scarlet Dale was the early leader at the summit of Pen y Ghent in 34:24. A group including Vic Wilkinson (Bingley), Martha Tibbott (Saddleworth), and Cat Taylor (Black Coombe) were around 30 seconds back.

At Ribblehead checkpoint, Dale still led, but behind her, just over a minute separated the next five runners, with Keswick’s Holly Wootton now lying second.

Taylor was to prove the strongest climber to the summit of Whernside where she held a three-minute lead over Wooton and Wilkinson. Dale had fallen back to fifth and was to drop out at the Hill Inn Checkpoint.

At the top of the final climb at Ingleborough, Taylor had increased her lead to seven minutes over Wooton. Cat Williamson (Loftus &Whitby) had moved into third ahead of Wilkinson.

Taylor didn’t let up on the long descent to the finish at Horton, clocking 3:34:44. She finished over nine minutes clear of Williamson, who came through for second in 3:44:03. Holly Wootten took third in 3:45:15. Victoria Thompson came through strongly for fourth, with course record holder Wilkinson in fifth.

There were 581 finishers from just under 700 starters.

Overall (24M/4500ft):
1 T Roach (Lewes, M40) 2:53:28
2 A Chepelin (C’thy) 3:00:14
3 D Connolly (Mercia) 3:00:30
4 F Wild (L’ber) 3:04:46
5 C Holdsworth (Inov8) 3:07:05
6 B Townshend (Kesw) 3:09:11
7 B Houghton (Dark Pk) 3:09:19
8 H Bolton (Kesw) 3:11:02
9 R Mon-Williams (Ilkley) 3:11:08
10 T Adams (Inov8, M40) 3:12:10

M50: K Gray (Calder V) 3:21:22

M60: D Prosser (Kesw) 3:54:47

M70: J Maxfield (N’burgh N) 5:16:34

TEAM: 1 Helm H 100; 2 Calder V 102; 3 Kesw 173

M40: Helm H 32

M50: Calder V 17

Women:
1 C  Taylor Black Combe 3:34:44
2 C Williamson (Loft, W40) 3:44:03
3 H Wootten (Kes) 3:45:15
4 V Thompson (Helm H) 3:46:52
5 V Wilkinson (Bing, W40) 3:47:18
6 E Cowper-Coles (Denb D) 3:50:08
7 M Tibbot (Sadd) 3:50:37
8 B Penty (Knave) 3:55:05

W50: R Thackray (Bing) 4:08:10

W60: A Duckworth (Clay) 4:51:06

TEAM: 1 Helm H 62; 2 N Leeds FR 69; 3 Bing 88

W40: Glens R 29

W50: Clay 19

GREAT HAMELDON, Accrington, April 30

Overall (6M/1100ft):
1 B Rothery (Ilkley) 35:53
2 J Ormrod (Ross, U20) 38:56
3 R Webb (Ross) 39:35
4 J Cleaver (Ross, M40)39:51
5 A Wale (Clay, M40) 40:06
6 D Mirifeld (Barl) 40:24
7 I Beresford (Barl, M40) 40:42
8 S Fairhurst (Horw) 40:46

M45: A Holt (Ross) 43:42

M55: M Horrocks (Barl) 46:08

M60: I Ferguson (Bing) 51:37

M70: M Moorhouse (Mat) 52:55

Women:
1 E Hopkinson ((Wharf, W40) 45:22
2 L Powell-Smith (B’burn, W45) 46:59
3 M Ralphson (Barl, W45) 49:41
4 J Cleaver (Ross, W40) 54:40
5 H Driver (Barl, W40) 55:03

W50: J Davies (Ribb) 57:06

W60: C Whitaker (Tod) 59:44

U20: C Duffy (Clay) 56:55

STUC A CHROIN, Strathyre, April 29

Overall (14M/5000ft):
1 F Wilson (C’thy) 2:13:00
2 S Fisher (Howg) 2:13:40
3 A Campbell (Cambus) 2:15:10
4 A Thornton (Ochil) 2:17:46
5 S Halsall (Shett) 2:21:06
6 A Smith (C;thy) 2:22:11

M40: A Fallas (C’thy) 2:26:12

M55: M Shaw (L’ber) 2:50:07

M60: M Anderson (W’lands CC) 2:58:16

M65: J Tullie (Tev) 3:09:47

Women:
1 S Hodgson (C’thy) 2:43:57
2 A Mudge (Ochil, W50) 2:47:29
3 B Hanson (Moorf) 2:47:53
4 E Peters (W’lands CC) 2:54:06

W55: N Spinks (Dark Pk) 3:06:07

W60: H Dean (Ochil) 3:34:37

SLIEVE MARTIN, Rostrevor, April 27

Overall (4.25M/1740ft):
1 J Scott (Mouirne) 38:29
2 J Mcatee (Mourne) 38:31
3 A Tees (BARF, M40) 38:32
4 A Crutchley 38:35
5 J McKee (Mourne) 39:20
6 L Vallely (Armagh, M40) 39:50
7 E O’Kane (U20) 39:52
8 B McConville (Newc) 39:57

M45: D McDaid (Newc) 42:00

M50: W Cartmill (Newry) 42:57

M60: P Le Blanc (Newry) 45:32

M70: P McGuckin 57:47

M75: J Adgey (N Down) 67:13

Women:
1 C Abraham 44:227
2 T Cumming (Willow, W40) 45:49
3 D Wilson (Drom, W50) 46:36
4 N McCurry (Glens R) 47:32
5 K Wilton (Jog Lisb, W50) 48:20

W55: A McNeill (Drom) 52:59

W65: M Mackin (Drom) 54:58

TIGER’S TRAIL, Totley, April 26

Overall (8.75km/207m):
1 T Perry (Dark Pk) 31:14
2 S Franklin (Totley) 32:13
3 P Williams (Dark Pk, W) 34:07
4 C Joyce (Dron) 34:25
5 A Macdonald (Sheff UOC) 34:30
6 T Hughes (Totley) 34:56

M40: K Swainson (Dark Pk) 35:29

M50: K Fitch 37:01

M60: J Turner (Steel) 40:35

M70: M Moorhouse (Mat) 44:21

Women:
1 Williams 34:07
2 K Sloane 37:39
3 A Walker (Sheff UOC) 41:24
4 C Kay (Totley, W40) 41:47

W50: J Langham (Smiley) 47:31

W60: P Goodall (Totley) 50:15

BUNNY RUN RELAYS, Haworth, April 25

Overall (3×2.4km/60m):
1 Triple Yokers (mixed) 29:47 (E Evans 9:13, H Cairns 10:49, A Cairns 9:45)
2 P&B 29:51 (D Walker 10:05, M Boocock 9:33, E Beaumont 10:13)
3 Hali 29:55 (A Franklin 9:21, W Cattermole 10:11, B Crowther 10:23)
4 SCRS 30:28 (D Drake 10:20, J Allard 10:03, M Warters 10:05)
5 Archies 30:57 (O Shinn 10:25, A Wolfenden 10:23, A Budding 10:09)
6 Eggs 30:59 (E Wilkinson 9:48, A Sielecki 11:02, O Brooks 10:09)

M40: Furry Fellas 37:23 (N Walker 13:07, P Vasquez 13:47, P Evans 10:29)

U17: 1 Bing 32:20 (R Temple 10:36, L Shackleton 10:56, J Norris 10:48)

U15: Kenyans 33:33 (G Marsh 10:11, O Timbers 11:29, W Oakden 11:53)

U13: Bing 35:30 (T Griffiths 12:08, T Jebb 12:56, C Porteous 10:26)

Mixed:
1 Triple Yokers 29:47
2 Threes a Crowd 31:34 (S Barber 10:06, M Bellwood 11:15, N Gallagher-Thompson 10:13
3 Hoppity 32:27 (B Buckley 11:21, C McKee 10:29, T Mckee 10:37)
4 Barnes 33:04 (H Smith 10:30, E Bolton 10:25, C Barnes 12:09)

Fastest:
1 E Evans 9:13; 2 Franklin 9:21; 3 Boocock 9:33; 4 L Parkin (Hali) 9:35

Women:
1 Scrambled 33:14 (O Aldham 11:18, E Gibbins 11:08, R Flaherty 10:48)
2 Bing (U15) 37:03 (M Donaldson 12:20, I Jebb 12:59, M Ford 11:44)
3 Keighley (U15) 37:41 (I Patefield 11:58, G Twist 13:04, M Plunkett 12:39)
4 Choc Bunnies (U13) 37:48 (A White 11:58, S Brady 13:57, Moddy 11:53)

W40: Eggstatic 39:29 (K Pickles 12:58, C Harding 15:05, R Pilling 11:26)

Fastest: 1 Bolton 10:25; 2 C McKee 10:29; 3 Smith 10:30

KINDER DOWNFALL, Hayfield, April 23

Overall (9.6M/1970ft):
1 P Taylor-Bray (Chorlton) 68:51
2 E Corden (Dark Pk) 69:26
3 D Birtwistle (Mercia) 70:40
4 T Saville (Dark Pk) 71:55
5 J Williams Dark Pk) 73:07
6 B Tetler (G’dale, M40) 73:48
7 C Winfield (Penn) 73:58
8 T Barry (Penn) 74:13

M50: S Knowles 77:51

M60: D Clarke (Hyde V) 93:59

M70: F Fielding (G’dale) 1:51:10

Women:
1 S Fawcett (Dark Pk, W40) 87:52
2 L Allen (Totley, W40) 91:20
3 H Tait (Dark Pk) 91:29
4 A Wilson (Sadd) 93:48
5 R Duckworth (Belpr) 95:24

W50: J Bednall (Bux) 1:45:54

W60: J Searle (Dark Pk) 1:43:51

W70: B Buckley (G’dale) 2:12:21

BLACK COMBE DUDDON DASH (FRA junior championships), Seathwaite, April 23

U19 (distance not measured):
1 A Poulston (Wirr) 52:46
2 W Walker (Clay) 55:09
3 E Whitaker (Harr, W) 55:12
4 J Ormrod (Ross) 55:50

U19 women:
1 Whitaker 55:12
2 S Rylance (Amble) 66:22
3 G Bell (Leven V) 66:36

U17
1 T Hooper (Wharf) 36:14
2 O Bailey (Staffs M) 36:28
3 J Sanderson (Sett) 36:49

U17 women:
1 G Turner (P’stone FPR) 44:28
2 I-M Wilson (Dark Pk) 45:23
3 O Aldham (Wharf) 48:00

U15 boys:
1 A White (Traff) 28:21
2 W Pease (Barl) 28:36
3 Z Jardine (K&C) 28:38

U15 girls:
1 I Pastor (Warr PAC) 31:06
2 M Jebb (Helm H) 31:41
3 C McKee (Calder V) 32:47

U13 boys:
1 H Hopkinson (Ross) 18:22
2 M Foxwell (Amble) 18:29
3 A Cole (Sett|) 18:32

U13 girls:
1 I Jebb (Helm H) 19:51
2 A Carr (Ross) 20:04
3 M McGoldrick (Sett) 20:41