10 members from Pickering Running Club joined 106 other runners for the beautiful Bransdale Fell Race last Wednesday evening, a favourite for many in the Dave Parry / Let’s Run Summer Series. The 7.5 mile route had 1,352 feet of elevation, much of which was in the first mile or so as competitors climbed their way out of the valley bottom to the moorland tops. There were some technical paths through heather and tall bracken and some wider sections where runners could really let themselves go. First back for PRC was Dave Smith in an excellent 63 minutes 38 seconds, placing him 3rd M55. Then came Boyd Brad in 71 minutes 18 seconds and James Loftus in 73 minutes 1 second. Paul Smith’s time of 84 minutes 21 seconds placed him 2nd M65.
Nick Cousins crossed the line in 87 minutes 3 seconds followed by David Stephenson in 88 minutes. Sue Slack was 1st F60 back in 90 minutes, very closely followed by Lynn Humpleby in 90 minutes 3 seconds.
Nicola Thorpe’s time of 90 minutes 14 seconds earned her the 1st F55 prize and Serena Partridge finished in 114 minutes 46 seconds.

Boyd Brad also ran the Darren Holloway Memorial Fell Race. The route for this 13.5 mile race is either going up or down, often steeply, amounting to a huge 4,800 feet of climb around Buttermere. It was warm in the valley but the rain kept runners cool and blasted them sideways on the tops! Boyd was pleased to be slightly quicker than last year, his time of 3 hours 7 minutes placing him 22nd overall.

Andrew Bates took part in the ItsGrimUpNorth Ship Inn Shuffle. The stunning half marathon route took runners along the cliff top paths around Flamborough and Sewerby. Andrew’s time of