Dark Peak News November 2009 page 3 DARK PEAK NEWS November 2009 l Pig Rock mystery solved – we reveal all l Local history lesson – why Burbage is pockmarked with bullets l Club Champs – the final briefing l Killer question - how does John Boyle wash his socks? WIN A BOTTLEJURA OF In this edition» est. 1976 www.dpfr.org.uk CAPTION COMPETITION President: Eric Mitchell The task this time is to find words to describe the ever- Chairman Secretary athletic John Gunnee as Paul Sanderson, Rob Moore he warms down after the 27 Milden Road, 2 Kerwen Close, Dungworth race. Wadsley Dore, Sheffield Sheffield Page 10» S6 4AT S17 3DF 0114 2206353 07766 520741 [email protected] [email protected] PIG ROCK Treasurer Membership Lynn Bland, Gavin Williams Arundale, Evans and Mackey lay claim to the beer 51 Hurlfield Ave 41 Frickley Road, after stumbling aross the iconic rock on a routine Gleadless, Sheffield training run. Sheffield, S11 7EX Page 11» S12 2TL 0114 2309227 0114 2646409 [email protected] [email protected] BURBAGE UNDER FIRE Discover the secret of some of the strange holes and Clothing and Eqpt. Men’s Captain pockmarks in the valley, as we launch a new feature Richard Hakes Lloyd Taggart, looking into the history of the places where we run. 454A Loxley Road 47 Brown Edge Road, Features, page 14» Loxley Buxton, Sheffield SK17 7AG CLUB CHAMPS S6 6RS 07747 610150 0114 2339912 [email protected] Gavin Williams reveals how we negotiated exclusive [email protected] access to the Westend Valley, and reveals what lies in store this weekend - you lucky people! Women’s Captain Website Page 16» Kirsty Bryan-Jones John Dalton 2, Sunnybank Cottages, 1, Cannon Fields, PADDY BUCKLEY IN THE FAST LANE Jaggers Lane, Hathersage, Hathersage, Derbyshire Ian Fitzpatrick presses the accelerator to complete the S32 1AZ S32 1AG Snowdonia round in just over 22 hours. 01433 650213 01433 659523 Been there, done that, page 22» [email protected] [email protected] Dark Peak News David Holmes 615, Loxley Road, Loxley, Sheffield, S6 6RR 0114 2344186 [email protected] Dark Peak News November 2009 page 3 The bit at the front Will the new club champion please step forward IF THINGS go to plan and we haven't been shafted by a postal strike, this magazine will reach you just a couple of days before we trek out to the Westend Valley for what should be a magnificent club championship race. Gavin Williams has come up with a really challenging course following some delicate negotiations which he details on page 16. They will be too modest to say it themselves, but I think Gavin and Paul should be congratulated for achieving such a positive outcome from discussions that began with us on the defensive over the Cakes of Bread race. I suppose I will have to give the club championship trophy one last loving polish before I hand it back to be passed on to this year's winner at Bradfield Village Hall. I had been hoping that my recent history of serious injury would win me at least a neutral handicap, but Roy Small had a malicious glint when I broached the subject in The Sportsman a couple of weeks ago. I confidently expect to be handicapped into oblivion this time round. If you fancy a run but have not yet entered, it's not too late to give Roy a ring, but do please remember that we cannot receive entries on the day because it makes a mess of the handicapping. And do also remember that you will be disqualified from the championship if you have not yet paid your subs! Boyle in the hot seat You'll find a new feature in this edition. 'The Questionnaire' gives us a random insight into the life of a fellow Dark Peaker. John Boyle goes first, having been selected by a 'random number generator' online. I took the number of club members, typed it into a box, then counted down the membership list until I reached the number the computer had thrown out. Thanks to John for being game and going first. I hope you will go along with it if your number comes out next. And if you have any suggestions for additional questions, I'm all ears. Looking ahead Thanks again to 'production editor' Tim Mackey for busting a gut to turn this edition round against a very tight deadline. Making everything fit and keeping track of the material is a tough task. Unfortunately, for reasons of space, we have had to hold some material over, so you will have to wait until next time to read the blow-by-blow reports from this year's BG. The next edition will also feature some thoughts from 'senior Warts' on night running safety as we hit the riskiest time of year, plus, I hope, some reflections and insights from those who achieved this year's magnificent relay wins. And surely one of the Silva addicts will want to hit back at the case I have made for l.e.d. torches? How soon it comes out is down to you. The more you write, and the more pictures you send, the sooner we can turn it round. I'm setting the challenge of a "Christmas special" to reach you by mid December. Over to you... Dave Dark Peak News November 2009 page 4 News FRA Relay successes JUST one minute and thirty seconds stood between Dark Peak and a clean sweep at the FRA Relays in Ennerdale. That was the margin between us and the winning Borrowdale team in the open men's category, despite us recording the fastest times on legs three (John Rocke and Neil Northrop) and four (Matt Speake). Meanwhile our women's team stormed home in first place, with Lizzie Adams leading the way on leg one, handing over to Liz Batt and Pippa Wilkie, then Kirsty Bryan Jones and Rachel Elder, and Karen Davison bringing the team home. We are also men's V40 champions, thanks to Mike Nolan, Mike Robinson, Dave Taylor, Simon Patton, John Boyle and John Hunt. The vets beat all but four of the younger teams, finishing fifth overall in the event. Congratulations too to the men's V50 team, who finished third in their category. Can any other fell running club boast such strength in depth? ...and the Ian Hodgsons too JUST a couple of weeks earlier we recorded a virtually identical success story on the opposite side of the Lakes in the Ian Hodgson Relays at Brotherswater. The women's team beat their previous record by one minute, with Karen Davison and Janet McIver overtaking Ilkley on the final leg to come home five minutes clear of the field - no mean feat as they set off on the leg five minutes behind the Ilkley pair! The men's Vets team again won their category, finishing sixth overall, just twenty five minutes behind the winning Borrowdale team, and about fifteen minutes behind our own open men's team, who finished third. Now for the Calderdale Way next month. Can the women and the vets chalk up a grand slam? (and would anyone bet money against our vets team beating our own "youngsters"?) ...and the Lakeland Classics TIME WAS when club officials would use these pages to bemoan Dark Peak's unwillingness to venture beyond its Peak District comfort zone. So it's a pleasure to record that we finished first team in the Lakeland Classics series this year. We are still waiting for the final results table from the Langdale race, but the event organiser has told us unofficially that we are home and dry after the other five. Mike Robinson, Jon Coe, Matt Hulley and Nick Kirk were all in the top twenty after the fifth race, the Three Shires, with Nicky Spinks looking well placed as first V40 woman. This series is made up of the Duddon Valley, the Ennerdale, the Wasdale, the Borrowdale, plus the two already mentioned, surely making it one of the most challenging tests in the fell running calendar. How times have changed since Rick Ansell lined up with just 33 other runners at the start of the Ennerdale in 1989, (see page 32). British and English championships THE SUCCESSES in the relays should not eclipse some impressive performances by Dark Peak members in the English and British open championships. We recorded top three placings in the British men's V50 (Mike Egner), V60 (Dave Tait) and U23 (Will Spain Dark Peak News November 2009 page 5 and Neill Barton) categories, and our team strength was reflected in second placings in the English team championships in the Men's Open, Men's Vets V40 and Men's Vets V50 categories. In the V50's, we were just one point behind the winners, Clayton le Moors. Lloyd Taggart finished fifth equal in the English Men's Open Championship, in his last season as a non-vet. Lizzie Adams was our best-performing woman, coming third in the English Women's U23 Championship. Curiously, our outstanding performances in the women's relays are not matched in the championships. With the exception of Lizzie, we had no women placing in the top fifteen of any of the open championships, and no placings in the women's team championships. For the full list of results, have a shufty at the Autumn edition of The Fellrunner, or visit the FRA website at http://www.fellrunner.org.uk/ championships.htm Bourne Supremacy ANDY HARMER'S longstanding record for the Fifteen Trigs has finally bitten the dust after twenty two years.