It has been a busy couple of weeks for runners from Buxton AC with a range of races on both the fells and on roads.

Buxton runners ran at the Eyam Fell Race which starts and finishes in the historic ‘Plague’ village of Eyam commencing with a tough climb out of Eyam up to the Sir William Hill, past the Barrel Inn and over towards Abney Moor. They ran against a field of 309 other runners. The first Buxton back, in 10th place, was Rob Lloyd.  He was followed by Richard Bouglas in 97th place, Neil Evans 100th, at  Bill McDonald 144th, Matt Nadin209th, Peter Bailey 244th and  Tracy Gregory 282nd.

Next on the fell race calendar was the Great Longstone Chase Fell Race, a 4.8-mile race that has a gentle climb up onto Longstone Edge out across moorland a before returning to the village of Great Longstone.  Running in a field of 163, Neil Evans came 42nd followed by Richard Bouglas in 60th, Matt Nadin 106th and Peter Bailey 132nd. In the junior race Harris Colebrook came 1st u9 boy whilst his sister Nola Colebrook came 1st u11 girl.

Two Buxton runners ran at the At the Ben Nevis Fell Race, a tough 10-mile route from Fort Williiam in the Western Highlands to the 1,360-metre summit of the highest mountain in the UK and back down again. The race has more than 100 years of history and is considered to be one of the premier mountain races seeing runners being paraded behind a band of bagpipes before they commence with their runs. Sam Soles finished 65th in a time of 2:08:30 and in 271st was Dan Latham with 2.45.49.

A few Buxton runners ran at the Wilne 10k, a race with a fast and flat course. Finishing in 151st was David Fryer-Winder with a time of 40.23.  Matthew Rolfe was 215th in 43.09 followed in 297th place by mum, Katie Rolfe, in a time of 45.56. She was followed in 419th place by Paul Markell in 50.04 and in 728th was Heather Fryer –Winder with a time of 1.01.54.

Buxton AC at the Wilne 10k.

Buxton AC hosted the Foxlow Frolic, a low-key race for club members and those of Goyt Valley Striders in the Goyt Valley.   The race was won by Ben Light of Buxton Buxton in 33:50, He was followed by Jake Fearn in 2nd, Chris Rushworth in 3rd, Mark Pursell 4th, Rick Houghton 5th.  Amy Whelon 6th and first female, Tom Tredwell 8th, Samantha Willis 10th, Jo Bednall 11th, Andy Lidstone 12th, Bill McDonald 13th, Heather Haggis 14th, Katie Rolfe 15th, Duncan Campbell 16th, Matt Nadin 18th, Richard Goff 20th, Craig Well 21st, Tracy Gregory 22nd and in 23rd place Terry Holland.

Tracy Gregory took part in the Dig Deep 30 mile Ultra on the moors around Sheffield and finished in 9:35:34.

Mixing her running with swimming and cycling, Grace Longden took part in the sprint distance race in the Shropshire Triathlon consisting of a 750m swim, a 25k cycle ride and a 5k run. She finished 7th lady overall and claimed the British under 20 sprint champion title.

A handful of runners took part in the fell race held as part of Longnor Races.  Third lady home was Lucy Bednall whilst Jonty Brown won 1st local junior and 2nd junior boy. Heather Fryer-Winder, David Fryer Winder, Kate Brown and Ben Light also ran.

Will Longden led the way home at the Junior Home International Mountain Running Championships held in Peebles, Scotland.   Running in his 6th England vest, Will claimed the British and Irish Under 20 men’s title.

Some Buxton Athletes travelled to Newcastle to take part in the Great North Run and were part of Mo Farrah’s last competitive race. Jon Sewell completed the 13.1-mile course in 1.30.01 followed in 1131st place by Neil Evans in 1.33.11.  In 17727th place was Emma Wentworth with a time of 2.14.01, closely followed by Sarah Sewell in 17735th place with 2.14.02.

Finally, a few Buxton runners have had some notable Parkruns, both at home and abroad.  Grace Longden ran the Edinburgh Parkrun in 20.25.  Rosie Dinnen completed her 250th parkrun at Hellbrunn Parkrun in Saltzberg whilst Rob White and Elizabeth Nocton ran at the Donau Parkrun in Austria.