Some difficult decisions had to be made by Buxton AC athletes this past week – which race from a whole multitude of events to take part in? Eleven runners elected to run in the ever popular Parkruns, while 22 took to the fells in a variety of events, and just one athlete represented the Club on the roads.
The climb up to Cracken Edge from Hayfield is notoriously steep, and the 7 mile fell race starts as it means to go on by sending the runners more or less straight up right from the outset. There’s some 1500 feet of climbing in total, a test of any hill runner’s mettle. Alasdair Campbell, never one to shy away from a challenge, was rewarded for his hard work by claiming a fantastic second place overall in 44 minutes and 9 seconds, the excellent time representative of the equally steep descent. Jo Cudahy was the only female from the Club to take part, and she finished in 150th place in a hard-earned 68.14. Richard Bouglas was 66th in 57.04, while Pete Bailey was 140th in 66.38.
As one of the Accelerate Gritstone series of races, the Salt Cellar 7 mile fell race takes in some of the most scenic views of the Dark Peak, starting at Bamford and climbing all the way on to Derwent Edge, before returning to the village from the Salt Cellar Boulders. Nick Jones was first Buxton runner home in a cracking time of 63.28 (27th), followed by Pete Bailey in 75.57 (107th) Roland Meylan 81.28 (124th) and Mark Halsey 82.31 (151st).
The finale of the Staffordshire Moorlands Summer Series was a tough little 5 miler out of Leek Cricket Club and taking the runners up most of the nearby Gun Hill. After eight races in total for the series, crucial points were to be gained so every effort had to be put into doing as well as possible. Rewarded with a second overall in the entire series, Ben Light worked his socks off to finish in 32.37, a fine result for the hard work put in over the past couple of months.
Kevin Mottram struggled in the heat at the hilly Trentham 10K, but his time of 43.26 and 80th placing from a field of 315, showed that his efforts weren’t in vain.
Bakewell, Lyme Park, Macclesfield, Marple and Northallerton Parkruns saw Buxton runners compete in the 5Ks, with some commendable results. Alan Talbot’s busy race calendar is showing dividends with a personal best time of 22.02 at Bakewell, and 1st Over 65 to boot. Tim Rolfe, at the hilly Macclesfield event, claimed a PB for the course in 26.32. Paul Light, working hard to return to form, was 21st at Macclesfield in a time of 22.20, close to his PB on the course, while Matt Hawtin was 8th at Lyme Park in 22.08, and 1st Vet 40. Neil Pearsons was 14th from a field of over 240 at Marple, in 21.28. Justin Holmes was 28th at Northallerton in 24.55.