And the 2014 winners are…

So the Runfurther races are over for another year.  Congratulations to everyone who took part – it takes guts to run one Ultra, & a lot more to run lots of them.  It’s been great meeting so many new people this year through being involved with Runfurther – sorry to all those whose name & face I failed to tie together.  It’s going to keep on happening I’m afraid, so keep reminding me.  The same probably applies to the rest of the committee, but I’m probably the worst!

So without further flannelling, I’ll announce the winners:

Men

1st Man:  Ian Symington, Calder Valley Feel Runners, 3925 points

2nd Man:  Martin Terry, Clayton-le-Moors Harriers, 3380 points

3rd Man:  Nigel Aston, FRA, 3363 points

4th Man:  Ned Lammas, Evesham Vale RC, 3249 points

5th Man:  Les Hill, Dumfries RC, 3161 points

Women

1st Woman:  Kate Whitfield, Mercia Fell Runners, 3903 points

2nd Woman:  Emma David, Nidd Valley Road Runners, 3867 points

3rd Woman:  Karen Nash, FRA, 3765 points

4th Woman:  Helen Price, Harrogate Harriers, 3530 points

5th Woman:  Kerrie Bretherton, Trawden AC, 3171 points

Vet 50 Men

1st MV50:  Martin Terry, Clayton-le-Moors Harriers, 3380 points

2nd MV50:  Nigel Aston, FRA, 3363 points

3rd MV50:  Les Hill, Dumfries RC, 3161 points

Vet 50 Women

1st FV50:  Karen Nash, FRA, 3765 points

2nd FV50:  Janet Hill, Springfield Striders, 2917 points

3rd FV50: Alison Brind, Stone Master Marathoners, 2907 points

Vet 60 Men

1st MV60:  Andy Robinson, Helsby RC, 2806 points

2nd MV60:  Stephen Dixon, Valley Striders AC, 2692 points

3rd MV60:  Dick Scroop, Mercia Fell Runners, 2494 points

Most Points Overall, and also Grand Slams

Men:  Nigel Aston, FRA, 9492 points

Women:  Emma David, Nidd Valley Road Runners, 10553 points

Teams

1st Team:  Calder Valley Fell Runners A, 8157 points (Ian Symington, John Minta, Kevin Hoult)

2nd Team:  Team Krypton A, 7777 points (Karen Nash, Nick Ham, Elise Milnes)

3rd Team:  Trawden AC A, 7646 points (Kerrie Bretherton, Steve Spence, Peter Stobbs)

Congratulations again to everyone listed above: you’re all clearly as daft as I am.

There weren’t any FV60 women who ran 3 or more races this year.  All the above are subject to revision if anyone spots any mistakes or omissions in the results, but if I don’t hear something in the next week or so it’ll be too late!  The full results tables are in their usual place here.

Round Rotherham 2014

Saturday saw the last race of the Runfurther 2014 year, the Round Rotherham 50.  I think we were just about all surprised at the weather, as we couldn’t believe it would still be warm and dry, but yet again we got really good running weather.  It was only wet from the knees down.  A bit of a mud-fest then, but even the mud could have been worse.  The main thing that spoiled it for me, apart from my bad running form, was the amount of rubbish over so much of the course.  Flytipping all over the place, and so much of the course strewn with windblown junk.

Anyway, there were some excellent performances.  Kevin Doyle (Kimberworth) was first in 6:52:42, ahead of Ian Symington (Calder Valley) in 7:11:28.  Kevin was 2nd last year, but was 10 minutes faster this time.  Last year’s winner Kevin Hoult came in joint 3rd with Michael Hyde.  It was good to see Fraser Hirst back running again: he’s been off the running scene due to working in Warsaw.  First woman was Helen Pickford (Sheffield RC) in a great time of 8:02:55, 9th overall.  Joint second were Elizabeth Hutson and Susan Keens in 8:56:36, which was particularly impressive as their previous ultra running experience had been just one 30-mile run each.

No time for more of a race report from me as I need to get the final Runfurther standings up as well before I leave for the OMM tomorrow.  Just time to say that Emma David and Nigel Aston both ran Rotherham, so they each achieved their Runfurther Grand Slam – congratulations to both of them.

Nick’s photos of the day are here. Nigel’s written a race report and that’s here.  Karen’s written a race report, and it’s on her blog here.  And here’s a photo I pinched from it:

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Our 2015 Races

Hello to you all, & sorry I’ve not posted anything here for a bit.  We’ve been a bit busy sorting out the races for 2015.  And, the good news is that we’ve now finalised those races.  They’ll be announced in the next edition of Trail Running magazine, which will appear in the shops on Thursday 6 November, and of course they will also appear here the same day.  We think we’ve lined up a great set of runs for you.

So, you’ll have to wait for the press launch for the race list, but I can tell you now that we’ve retained only 4 races from the 2014 Championship, brought back 5 old favourites that have been in the series in past years, and there are 3 new races that have never been in before.  Most of the races we’ve dropped for 2015 we plan to include again in the future, as they’re all great races.  We just want to make sure every year is different, and get a bigger range of races into the Runfurther world.  Have a look at the race list when we release it, & let us know what you think.  We know we can’t please everybody all the time, but we’re trying to get close!  And of course, if we’ve dropped your favourite race for 2015, the race is still on, & you can still run it.

The last race of 2014 is on Saturday: the Round Rotherham 50, so we’ll see a lot of you there.  Wish me luck: I’ve got to get round in a reasonable time to have a chance of that Runfurther MV60 title.  I’ll get the final standings up on here as soon as I can after they release the race results.  There’s a committee meeting in Rotherham on Friday evening if anyone wants to attend: details on the Meetings page.

And lastly, don’t forget the AGM & prizegiving & of course cake.  Saturday 29 November in the Dark Peak, with an optional race beforehand.  All the details are here, apart from the exact location, which will be released once the race location is announced (it’s a Mini Mountain Marathon, location secret until the end of this month).  Please come: now that Runfurther is owned by the runners, we have to have plenty of you turning up at the AGM to keep it working democratically.  And there’ll be cake.  And a bar.  And prizes.  And cake.