A Virtual race - The Crunch

The Crunch (Virtual race)

HelmHill Spring 2020 Lockdown Newsletter! 

It's Up - see latest news for link

Silverdale Circuit

Reports just coming in that David Griffin won the 17ml Silverdale Circuit and he was also 1st v60!

Carnethy 5 - Claymore retained

What a race.  It is difficult to explain the appeal of this event at times, after all it's a long drive for a short race and the weather is usually grim. However as an early season measure, the coolest prize in fell running, and the now long tradition the club has of making the trip, means the day never disappoints. 2020 was no different with storm Dennis gathering strength throughout the day, the knowledge that it would probably go ahead (after all 2016 was a blizzard), all adding to the apprehension and excitement. After the initial climb to Scald Law we were in the full blast of the storm making our way to the turn at West Kip and at times it seemed faster progress could be made on all fours. The ladies of course were defending their title and with an amazing run Hannah came home first, Sharon second and Kelli fourth. The men managed second team with Rob 8th Mike A 10th, Adam P, and Josh J. Rob was 2nd v40, Sharon 1st v40 and Bianca 3rd v40. Results. Thanks to CarnethyHRC and their marshals whose ability to stand upright is remarkable.

KWL update and Stybarrow Dodd

4 races into this year's Kendal Winter League and the opening races have been dominated by Lancaster and Morecambe's Matthew Knowles and Ambleside's Chloe Rylance - latest standings are here. Stybarrow Dodd race saw a close battle between Hannah Russell and Sharon Taylor over a shortened course due to the weather, with Hannah using her descending skills to take the honours. Results. Photos from granddayoutphotography here.

Nine Standards

A determined Helm contingent made the trip to Kirkby Stephen for this New Year's day blast. It's an 8 mile out and back course consisting road slippery tracks and bog, depending on how frozen/wet it has been over the Christmas period. For once the cloud was above the fell and it wasn't raining, allowing some of us to take in the spectacular scenery of these parts, which is not always the case in this event. Mike Ainsworth was first back for Helm in 4th and along with Kieran Hodgson and Jack Simpson took the team prize. Not to be outdone, Bianca Dyer, Jo Rycroft and Charlotte Milligan took the ladies team. David Griffin was 1st v60 and Bianca 1st v40. Results.

Wansfell

The traditional season finale and post-christmas blast took place on a rather damp and murky Wansfell Pike. The two mile up and down blast, is a good opportunity for any of our over 14 runners to put the seniors in their place and many duly did. Mark Addison was an excellent 3rd, and along with Adam P and Will Acland were the only seniors to avoid the attentions of the juniors; Martin Askew and Henry Hunter leading the charge. Kelli Roberts despite being under the weather still came in 2nd for the ladies. Billy was 1st v60 and Lorna A 1st FV50. Results.

Tour de Helvellyn and Helvellyn 10K

Well done to Adam Perry for winning the staggering 37 mile Tour de Helvellyn, and to Paul Aitken on a fantastic 4th. Sara Gerrish also ran an impressive race to finish 16th. Meanwhile those that like the flat stuff (occasionally) were out in force at the Helvellyn 10k; great running by Pete Harrison (3rd) Pete German and John Robson.

Fancy Dress Run and the Langdale Christmas pudding 10k

A fantastic run out for both seniors and juniors ahead of the presentation at the Castle Green hotel. Meanwhile Pete Harrison won the pudding and the Brathay 10k christmas race. Great turnout for Helm with Kath Aubrey 1st v50 and Pete German also having a great run. Results

Autumn Newsletter Available

The bumper 56-page Autumn/Winter edition is here. You can read about our British & English champions, many long adventures on the fells (some involving ropes), short racing shorts, tales of rivalry, Johnny Grisedale's gt-gt-grandad, getting lost in Wales and more including the usual incompetence on and off the fells. 

Coronavirus latest update - see 'Latest News' re KWL, training etc

Cunswick Scar, 1 Mar; after missing three races due to various Storms, it was great to be racing again, and the juniors raced only normal high winds and low temperatures.

Northern Schools Inter-Counties cross country championship, 8 Feb. Just in time before Storm Ciara, many Cumbrian youngsters ran in this event, which was hosted this year by Cumbria and held at Lowther Castle. Youngsters had made it through to this round from their previous District rounds, and now competed against other Northern County runners. The results are available on Cumbria Athletics facebook page … Cumbria won overall. We are proud of all our Helm Hill juniors who reached this level, as well as those who took part in the District rounds and didn't make the Counties round this time. Later this year, some Helm Hill runners will go on to represent Cumbria in the Nationals.

Giggleswick, Whitestones and Birkrigg (Birkrigg had a particularly good helping of mud and rain) races have taken place; see left-hand side of this page (below tweets) for results, and see the Races page of this website for details of the other races coming up in the KWL series.

Kendal Winter League 2020 has begun! A mass of young runners gathered on the start lines at Scout Scar on the first Sunday in January to compete in the first race of the league this year. Well done to them all! Scout Scar 5 Jan results are on the results tab of this website (scroll down on the left-hand side of the Results page).  

Wansfell Pike race, 27 Dec  Great to see our young runners Alex and Henry taking part in the Under18s category, finishing 22nd and 36th overall! Also young seniors in the U21 category Adam Scott, Martin Askew and Robert Askew finishing 66th, 19th and 35th overall! Great performances in a field of 180 runners which included a large number of top runners from Helm and our neighbouring clubs. Thank you Ambleside AC for a great race, and for opening the race to a minimum age of 14 years. Full results are HERE.  

End of Year Awards … combined with a festive fancy dress/Santa hat run and buffet, the awards do on 7 December was a celebration of the effort put into training and racing by so many Helm Hill juniors. Whippet awards, which recognise positive attitude and a determination to try hard at training, regular participation in races, supportiveness towards training peers, friends and acquaintances were awarded to Jasmine Bottomley, Isla Douglas, Eleanor King, Fin Grisedale and Alex Holme. The trophies and medals for the 2019 club junior championship were awarded (see HERE for results of the championship) and Oliver Willoughby, pictured here with Helm's club captains, was presented with the prestigious Ken Shuttleworth Junior Award for Endeavour.

Kendal Mountain Festival Following the Seniors' morning 10K trail run, in the afternoon it was the turn of Helm Hill juniors to take off up Scout Scar with Ultra Runner Tom Evans, Adidas Terrex sponsored athlete, who chatted with our youngsters about training and racing. Thank you Tom! 

English Schools Fell Running Championships 2019 … this is the annual event when Helm juniors don school running tops instead of Helm vests and compete against each other, for their school, as well as against other runners from many parts of the country. There is always plenty of competition in this championship. Results are HERE. Well done to all our juniors who took part in this event, this year on Giggleswick school's cross-country course (good practice for the Kendal winter league!).