Helm Hill Runners - News and Events

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News & Events - updated 10th March
If anyone has any news to post please email me.

Return to the Helm 7th April - put a note in your diary

Are there any volunteers - parents or seniors - who would be happy to help occasionally with the youngest junior group. See Lorna on Wednesday nights if you can help.

Sat 24th April - Kentmere challenge sponsored walk - Selection of lengths; 5 miles, 10 miles, 13 miles, 20 miles. Details; www.kentmerechallenge.co.uk or phone John Handley 015395 68297.

Committee meeting - Thursday 25th March 8pm at the Castle pub

The Best of the Fells - The Best of the Fells is a collection of fell race accounts, written by runners, and featuring a wide range of races and challenges across the UK (and a few beyond). Read it for entertaining accounts of the Bob Graham Round, the Fellsman, classic Lake District fell races, the Ben Nevis Race, the Grizzly and many more. Thirty-five different running clubs and fifty runners have contributed to the book. All proceeds from the book are being donated to UK Mountain Rescue.

Party at the Hawkshead Brewery on 26th March - My friend and colleague, Richard Dawson, will be running the London Marathon in April and will be aiming to raise money for the charity, Beating Bowel Cancer. This charity is particularly relevant to us both as a former colleague and friend suffered from this illness and sadly passed away shortly before his long-awaited retirement. As part of Richard’s fund raising efforts, he has organised a party at the Hawkshead Brewery on 26th March. This should be a very good evening as there will be live music and, I am led to believe, the beer is good too! Further details are on the attached flyer. Both Sandra and I will be going and we hope that you might be interested in joining us; also, please do feel free to pass this on to anyone else who you think might be interested. Tickets are just £6 each and are available from me. Richard has also set-up a ‘Just Giving’ website should you be interested: www.justgiving.com/Richard-Dawson Finally, I hope you don’t mind my including you on this e-mail and I hope that both you and your wife / husband / boyfriend / girlfriend / partner (I’ll stop there !) can make it to the Party. David White

Proposed Senior Club Championship 2010 - Word - PDF

Photos in gallery. We assume that most people are pleased to see their (or their childrens) photos in our gallery. However if there are any photos you do not want to be shown please contact me using the website contact and I will remove them. thanks Andy.

See the Results page for Club Championship, Downhill race and Greyhound Challenge results.

Dave's Winter Training schedule - updated January to March - join our seniors for a cracking session on Wednesday nights

Bilbo's Cafe
Just a quick note to let folk know that Bilbo's Cafe opened in December, above The Lakes Climber & Runner shop in Ambleside. For the 'old school' amongst you, it's located where Wilfs began some 15 years ago when the shop was known as Rock & Run. Bilbo's Cafe offers fry-ups with tea/coffee & toast for under a fiver, bacon/sausage butties for £2.50, soup (£2.95), toasted snacks for a pound, and wholesome sarnies with salad for £2.95 and more! Drinks include pint mugs of tea, hot chocolate and coffee for £1.50. Flapjack, chocolate brownies and cakes go from a pound! All good food and at very good prices! Bilbo's Cafe is an ideal spot from which to base your run, ride, climb or walk; a great stop off en-route and generally an all-round good place just to stop off for a brew and buttie. See you at Bilbo's! Cheers, Ben & Chris

Club Vests - Dave Appleyard tells me that he has a full range of vest sizes available from XXS to Ladies L and Mens XL. See Dave on Wednesday nights.

Photos from the Ian Hodgson Relay in the gallery

NEW Webpages Juniors, Seniors and Policies - check them out - not much in the Juniors page yet so contributions welcome.

Last Wednesday on the Helm will be 30th September, back to the Castle Street centre on 7th October. Juniors must wear a fluorescent vest or jacket for town running.

Running Fitness Magazine - here's a copy of the article on our club if you haven't seen it already.

Minutes of our Annual General Meeting Tuesday 12th May 2009

The Mid Lancs Cross Country series will kick off again this winter, first fixture either late October or early November. Will runners interested in competing PLEASE contact me ASAP so I can register you. I can be contacted either at cspeight@btinternet.com or ring me on Kendal 730203. Chris Speight

Winter League Umbrella
I've got one Winter League umbrella left. At £15 you can't buy cheaper anywhere else! Either drop me an email at helmhillrunners@aol.com or give me a ring on 01539 723 524 to get one while you still can. Alistair

Old Counties Tops report - see results page

Keswick to Barrow trophy - Helm Hill’s Lindsay Harrod won the J M Redshaw Cup for being the first woman home in the 43rd annual Keswick to Barrow challenge on Saturday 9th May.

Helm Hill Hoodies - children's 9-10, and 11-13, are £15 and xs, S, M, L are £20. We have a sample of 9-10 and 11-13 and S, which I will bring down on a Wed night, we think the sizing is on the small side for the smallest sizes. So try them on if interested.
I will place an order when I have 10 or more firm orders to cover postage etc. as they insisted we pay before they would embroider. Cheques to Helm Hill runners. - Dave Appleyard

James Knox - James won the U13's race at the The National Cross Country Championships on Saturday at Parliament Hill, London, beating off 355 other runners. This is a fantastic achievement for James and for Helm Hill. Well done James! Results

Night Runs
Well, I've got to say........those who didn't make it on Saturday night missed an absolute treat............Russell's mystery tour from Staveley, a cloudless, moonlit night - 2 hour, 11 mile run.........followed by a selection of excellent bitters and ales at the Beer Festival..........it doesn't get much better than that. We even got a lesson in astronomy which went something like........"what's that bright star up there? It must be Venus, or Mars.........or possibly one of the other ones.....maybe a plane?"
Thanks for showing us around Russell............and thanks to those who turned up (too numerous to mention.........including those who said let's skip the run and head straight for the beer!)
There's another Beer Festival in Summer...........so put the date in the diary........... Tim

Keswick to Barrow Challenge - 9 May: Places now available on Kendal Mountain Rescue fundraising team. In recent years Kendal Mountain Rescue Team have entered at least one team of runners, joggers and walkers. Each team member raises individual sponsorship on the official K2B form. Transport is provided by KMRT members from Kendal to the start at Keswick (6am start!) and back again from Barrow to Kendal later in the day. In between you have to negotiate 40 miles of tarmac, so a good cushioned pair of shoes is essential. Sounds a bit grim for off-roaders I know, bur the event is very well organised and has a tremendous atmosphere with coachloads of Barrovian schoolkids, hand-cyclists and teams from all over the country in good-natured competition. Every finisher gets a free pie and a pint at the end. KMRT have permission for two teams and places tend to fill up quickly. If we can put together one team of all runners this year then we may be in with a chance of the Challenge Cup. If any club member is interested in joining in and raising money for this valuable local charity then please contact me on henderson.colin@sky.com by the end of February. For more details on the event itself see: www.keswick2barrow.co.uk - Colin Henderson

I've attached a photo of a few of the lads on the summit of Helvellyn, taken on my mobile phone, for you to put on the website. It was taken during one of dad's (Billy boy) 'steady' training runs in the fells the day after the Wansfell Race and everyone's legs were killing. We went from Grasmere, up Seat Sandal, onto Dollywagon and Nethermost Pike before taking in Helvellyn. We picked a direct line off the tops back down to Dumail Raise, crossed the road and straight up Steel Fell. We then came down off the nose of Steel Fell back to Grasmere.
There was me, dad, Shaun, Jos, Roary, Tom and Mark Addison, Tom Doyle (some of whom were visiting the top of Helvellyn for the first). Unsurprising to those who've been up there plenty of times before, it was misty.
Cheers, Lee Procter.

Wansfell report in Results

The OMM - after the sensational coverage of the OMM by the BBC and others here's an article by Richard Askwith (Feet in the Clouds) for a bit of balance. The extreme world of mountain marathons. Also see reports from Dave White and Russell on the forum.

New club vest - the new club vests have arrived. See Dave Appleyard if you'd like one.
Available in both male and female cut. Sizes - Male: XS, S, M & L - Female: XS, S & M. Also Unisex: XXS.
Prices - Seniors £13 and Juniors £11.

NEW - Helm Hill Runners very own Forum - let me know if you have any problems, suggestions etc. Thanks to Niall for his advice on setting it up.
Calendar - the forum has its own calendar and you can post events etc on it if you are a forum member.

Club Physio session - This was a really good session by Nina, I've certainly learnt a few things and feel truly stretched. Notes on the session will appear here in due course.

Chairmans report - an update on what's happening in the club from our chairman

Lakes Runner - just to let you all know that Helm Hill runners can now get a 10% discount on full price goods at the Lakes Runner in Ambleside.

Caption competition - Chairman Tim "The great descender" captured on camera at Helvelyn May 2008.
"ooooh just what I needed a good back scratch" - courtesy of Richard S.

Committee news - welcome to our new Chairman: Tim Murray, General Secretary: Chris Speight and Membership Secretary: Amanda Conner. Many thanks to Richard Sewell, Jane Rigby and Ollie Fielden for their work on the committee over the years.
The first meeting of the new committee was held on Thursday 27th March - here are the minutes.

Minutes of Helm Hill Runners AGM, 19th March 2008
Brief overview (full minutes can be obtained from Jayne Rigby)

Winter Bob Grahams - Garry's report - Simon's report
Just to let you know that Garry Beardwood, Simon Waller and Paul Jackson all completed the BG on Saturday 16th Feb with plenty of support from Helm Hill and Kendal members plus a few others. Photos in gallery.
Times were: Simon 22.47, Garry 23.00, Paul 23.50

Nine Standards race report - 1st January 2008
The first day of the New Year......the first thing you hear is the alarm clock, the second thing is the rain beating on the windows.........oh well, the weather might be better in Kirkby Stephen. It was, but not by much...... although the mist was high enough to give reasonable view of the task ahead.

This race is a great way to get the fell running year underway and shake off the previous night's overindulgence......although it was clear from the results that some people were taking it extremely seriously. Its got to be said that this race is a bit of a slog......a there and back route of just over 8 miles. Around half the distance is run on road, a quarter on rough track and the remaining quarter through glue (or something similar)
The field of 88 runners set off at noon and was quickly strung out along the tarmac as the route wound its way up to the Nine Standards........nine piles of stones which serve no apparent purpose (according to Wikipedia) apart from giving fell runners something to aim for. The great thing about an out and back route is that you get a chance to see the front runners in action (and see how it should be done), there's a chance to give encouragement to other runners from the club as (in my case) they pass you on the way back and there's the added satisfaction of turning for home and running downhill past those who are still heading up.

I mentioned that some runners were taking it very seriously and none more so than Natalie White (Bingley) who broke the ladies record by a staggering two minutes..........and to put that into perspective, the record was set by Helen Diamantides over 14 years ago. (I had to be satisfied with a more modest 20 seconds off my time from last year). Helm Hill again won the team prize (following on from the success at Wansfell) thanks to top 20 performances from Paul (5th) and Peter Brittleton (6th) and John Bagge (18th or thereabouts). Dave White and Nigel Thomas were also running from the Club.

Hot soup and a beer at the finish.....thanks to Paul Brittleton and co for the organisation and hospitality.
Tim Murray

Helm Hill – Boxing Day Run 2007, Helvellyn
Just five of us (Russ Cannon, Mick Wilson, Duncan & Natalie Campbell and I) braved the dull weather on Boxing Day.
As is tradition, we started from the Wythburn Church carpark and ran North through the woods to the Thirlspot carpark. The cloud base was at about 1800’ and, unlike last year, there was no chance of breaking above the cloud this time. Conditions grew steadily worse, wetter and windier and Duncan and Natalie decided that the half way point was a sensible time to head back down.
Russ, Mick and I pushed on, nearing the top the wind grew stronger and we encountered frozen ground and some icy snow patches on the summit plateau. Just a brief stop at the summit shelter chilled us enough to make a hasty retreat and, for safety reasons, we thought it best to head back the same way so that we could regroup lower down the mountain.
Having not caught Duncan and Natalie up on our return we were relieved to see that they had made it back to their car. Coffee and mince pies were much needed refreshment as was the pint at the Eagle & Child when back in Staveley. As always, a worthwhile outing but conditions could have been better. David White 02/01/08

Christmas Party Raffle
Thanks to all who contributed to the Christmas Party Raffle. We raised £103 which has been donated to the Great North Air Ambulance Service. I hope we never need to use their services but they can provide a vital lifeline if you need help on the fells or roads of Cumbria.
Thanks again and enjoy your running in 2008. Richard Sewell - Club Chairman

Wansfell Report - 27th December 2007
The perfect antidote to the previous two days spent boosting your carbohydrate intake....a brisk run up Wansfell and back to work off the mince pies and Christmas pud. This year's race kindly organised by Ambleside Club led by Dan Duxbury.........thanks!
Ok, the weather could have been better....a lot better......but 88 runners turned out in the wind and rain with a strong contingent from Helm Hill representing the Club. Having done this race for the past three years I honestly believe the hardest part is the walk down the hill from the car park so that you can start the race and run back up again. Spectators were few and far between as the runners snaked up the hill..Well done to Russell Canon and Lauren Appleyard who were present to cheer on the Club vests....not that there were too many smiles given in return as the climb took its toll. Too late to regret that last glass of red wine at midnight the night before, it's hands on your knees and keep pushing..........unless, of course, you run all the way up ........but that's not possible (is it?).
No time to admire what little view was on offer at the top at its a quick 'thanks' to the marshals.........who looked truly frozen.......before beginning the short, sharp descent to the car park, slipping and sliding all the way to the finish.
The 'Lakes Runner' sponsored the race so it was back to the shop in town for a brew and (yet more) mince pies. Helm Hill did brilliantly and picked up the bulk of the prizes..........1st Senior, Alastair D (is that the third year running?!!)....3rd Senior, Tom Addison..........1st Vet 50 Billy P.......Team prize - Helm Hill...Melanie Hyder also really well placed in the ladies race............(Hope I've got these right...apologies if I've missed anyone out).
In addition to those above, also representing the Club today....Andy Bennett, Ian Mitchell, Dave Appleyard, Rob Blyth, Dave White...again apologies if I missed anyone - relying on memory.
I finished, as usual, halfway down the field.........43rd out of 88.....although very pleased with a minute off last years's time.........so I'm off to celebrate ........with a mince pie!
Merry Christmas to All - Tim Murray

Downhill Championship Sat 15th Dec - Results

Senior's Club Championship 2007: Final Results
Mens champion: Ollie Fielden, Ladies champion: Amanda Conner

Loughrigg Fell Run – 7 November 2007 - Just three of us ventured onto Loughrigg this week, a disappointing turnout given the good level of support at last months run at Barbon. Despite this, Chris, Lindsay and I agreed that a run on the fells was far better than hill reps in the town (…. sorry Dave). Leaving the Rydal road carpark in Ambleside at 7pm, we followed the track through Rydal Park to the Hall and then headed across the beck to Rydal Water. The evening was dry and surprisingly mild and following the terrace we arrived at the base of the north end of the fell. A brisk climb followed and we were soon at the summit with views to the lights of both Grasmere and Ambleside. From the trig point we followed the ‘race route’ back to Ambleside and were back in town by 8.30pm. It was unusual to not see anyone else on this very popular fell, perhaps this is the answer to avoiding crowded summits. In summary we covered just over 6 miles and about 1200’ ascent. The next winter fell run is on 5th December and will be to Scout and Cunswick Scars (we will run directly from the Lad’s club and will aim to leave at about 7pm). Hopefully we will see a few more faces and I am open to suggestions as to where we go for post-run refreshments. David White 08/11/07
Lindsay's report - "It was a really enjoyable run and much more pleasant than doing hill reps on Captain French Lane! Running on uneven ground by headtorch takes a bit of getting used to but provided a good excuse for us to go at a gentle pace. We heard an owl and there were good views from the trig point - we could see all the lights of Grasmere, Ambleside, Waterhead pier, Windermere and Bowness. It's a shame that not more people joined us as I'm sure they'd all have had an enjoyable evening. I think of these monthly fell runs as a nice treat - a reward for training hard on all the other Wednesday nights."

Champions and Honours
Helm Hill seniors finished of the summer season with a fine performance in the annual club relay competitions. 8th in the Ian Hodgson and 12th in the British Championships is no mean "feet" for a small family club - well done everyone.
Alastair Dunn won the BOFRA seniors championship, with Paul Tuson 2nd Vet 45.
The strength of our juniors was ably demonstrated in both the FRA English Championship and BOFRA Championships. FRA rankings produced Gold medal 1st places for Tom Addison U18s and Melanie Hyder U14s, with 2nd place Silver medal positions for James Knox U12s and Tom Doyle U14s. BOFRA rankings produced 1st places for Melanie Hyder U14s making it a BOFRA/FRA double, James Knox U12s and Lorna-Jo Nunwick U12s, with 2nd place for Rory Addison U14s.

Fell run - Wednesday 5th September, Barbon - Report - Word - PDF

Fell run - Wednesday 1st August, Potter Fell- Report - Word - PDF

Another Good Weekend (14th/15th July)
The current strength and participation of Helm Hill at both senior and junior levels was ably demonstrated this weekend at all three of the races posted on our events page in Scotland and the Lakes.
Saturday saw a strong contingent venture over the border to Alva, where judging from the photos they managed to find some sunshine for the race even if Friday night was a bit wet for the campers. Tom Addison and Alastair Dunn fought it out for first place in the seniors race, with Alastair taking the honours on the descent. Chris Doyle was close behind to make it a 1,2,3 for Helm. Tom Doyle managed 4th in the under 17s followed by Chris Tuson and Jos Addison in 8th & 9th. Another 1st in the under 14s from Rory Addison and in the under 12s from James Knox, with Lorna-Jo Nunwick 6th and 1st Girl. See BOFRA web site for a full report and photos http://www.bofra.co.uk/AlvaResults2007.html
Sunday saw a respite from the rain in Cumbria and good attendance at both Bampton Village Fell Race and Kentmere Horseshoe. At Bampton, Helm Hill had victory in the Seniors with Mark Addison 1st, with good team support from Paul Britleton 2nd, Shaun Addison 6th and Olly Fielden 7th. Scott Thwaites led Helm home first in the junior race, supported by Jos and Rory Addison on their way home from Alva. Melanie Hyder completed the Helm prize list with 1st girl.
At Kentmere Chris Speight led the Helm Hill team home in 16th, with good support down through the field. Special mention to Jayne Rigby 187th at Kentmere our only Lady competitor of the weekend. Well done Jayne!! - but where are the rest of our ladies?? - Richard.

Summer fell run 4th July - Sour Howe and Sallows David's report

'OUTSTANDING junior runner Tom Addison and experienced senior Joe Symonds turned on the style as they raced to the summit of Snowdon and won the right to represent Britain in the European Mountain Running Championships next month.' Read the full article on the WG website

Cautley Crags Race Report

Bob Graham 2nd June - David's report
David White completed his Bob Graham on Saturday in 22 hrs 11 mins. Ran strongly the whole way and was a pleasure to support. Well done David. Photos in gallery.

A Good Weekend (26/27 May)
It was good to see the club well represented on the fells this weekend. On Saturday the club had a great turn out at Hutton Roof with what looked from the results like a first team prize in the seniors race and plenty of points awarded in the club championship. Nice to see some of our ladies running and well done Jake Lowther taking 1st place in the junior race. In Scotland Peter Ward, Russ Cannon and Dave Till kept something of a tradition going by representing Helm Hill in the Isle of Jura Fell Race (its no mean feat getting there never mind running up the paps and a few other hills along the way). Sunday saw Paul Tuson in the Helvelyn Race, whilst at High Rigg the FRA Junior Championship races saw 1st places for James Knox in U12s and Tom Doyle in U14s. Don't know if anyone went to Dodd Fell Race as no results available. - Richard Sewell

Newest Member
Dear all, Just a quick thankyou to all at the club who have wished us well since the arrival of Cameron last Thursday. Thanks too for the vest which he is sporting here. He'll grow into it as they say. His lack of interest in running is starting to be a concern as he's been around over 7 days now; but we'll work on that. We are looking forward to seeing you at a race sometime soon. All the best. Ali & Jen

Great Lakes 3 Day – ‘On Tour’ – May 2007 - report by David White

Wansfell Run 2nd May
7 Souls made it out last wednesday for the first of our wednesday monthly runs, and what a cracking evening it was. For those who came last time we did that route (in thick, thick mist) it was a beautiful clear evening with a lovely setting sun as we jogged along the ridge, north from Wansfell summit. A nice steady pace all round and everyone enjoyed it, made even better by the fact that the plates of chips were waiting for us, compliments of Mr Wright and Mrs Appleyard. We intend to go out every first wednesday of the month for a similar duration/distance.

New Sales/Wants page - let me know of any running / training gear that you have to sell or want to buy. Especially childrens shoes, vests etc. Also that pair of Walshes you bought half a size too small and have only worn twice :)

PS. This page is open to anyone in the club who wants to publicise an event, training run, reccie, pub crawl, whatever! Just drop me an email and I'll add it to the list. Thanks - Andrew.