Whilst half of our membership stayed at home to organise the excellent Causey Pike Fell Race, a party 21 of headed to Shropshire for the Long Mynd Valleys fell race, the first of this years races in the English Fell Running Championships.

Set in the rolling Shropshire hills, the 11 mile course packed a punch, with most of the 4000ft of ascent being packed into the final 3 miles. Those who saved some energy on the fast start were rewarded with a chance to reel in their competitors as the hills got longer and steeper, with the final gruelling climb of Yearlet taking a few victims despite the organisers many warnings. The races were won in impressive style by Tom Addison (Helm Hill) and Victoria Wilkinson (Bingley).

The Keswick results were excellent, particularly Carl Bell in 3rd and the men finishing as 1st team. The Ladies team were 6th and the Ladies V40 team were 7th.

The winning mens team at Long Mynd

Keswick results
Ladies
11th Catherine Spurden 1:57:11
18th Jenn Mattinson 2:02:39
39th Trudy Beetham 2:18:10
43rd Zoe Webber 2:19:15
54th Rachel Findlay-Robinson 2:23:04
55th Helen Winskill 2:23:16
56th Lindsay Walker 2:23:30
82nd Debbie Charlton 2:41:43
88th Lesley Malarkey 2:53:22 (2nd V65)

Men
3rd Carl Bell 1:33.49
9th Mark Lamb 1:36:50
13th Steve Hebblethwaite 1:38:21
16th James Appleton 1:39:10
24th Sam Stead 1:41:24
30th Chris Edis 1:43:41
62nd Lee Newton 1:49:20
99th Rob Brown 1:55:37
100th Dan Haworth 1:55:42
111th Adam Lloyd 1:57:33
147th Rupert Bonington 2:03:15
185th John Beetham 2:10:33

Full Results: Here

Photos: Mountain Fuel