Sun 6 May 2018, Accrington The hottest day of the year greeted 8 Preston Harrier juniors for the 2nd race in the Junior Fell Championship at the Great Hameldon Hill Race in sunny Accrington. First away was probably the youngest competitor in the club and new to the fell scene, Olivia Wood, in the under 9 category. She had a storming run and finished 8th in her age group in a time of 4:26min.
Next up was Connor Rigby, running in his second fell race of the season and in a very competitive field. He paced the run brilliantly and finished an excellent 9th out of 31 in 13:01min in the under 11 boys’ category. Grace Horne followed soon after in 13: 53min and 6th place in the under 13 girls; this was a great run considering she had to stop for a while to tie her shoelace!!! The ever-improving Josh Perry completed his under 11 run in 16:12min and 28th overall and even had enough in the tank for a sprint finish!
The under 15 boys saw in-form runner, Vladimir Wiggins being pushed all the way to the line by fellow club mate, Jamie Hawtin to finish 3rd in 15:35min and collect a bronze medal and Jamie finishing only 1:58min behind, in an excellent 6th place.
Mr. Consistent, Arran Baldwin, had a fine run in the under 17 boys race, finishing 6th in 18:23min and last but not least, Emily Wiggins came 2nd in the under 21 age category, running in a time of 1:14:43 in the tough senior race.
A great day was had by all, with various picnics in abundance. Well done to all who participated and supported the athletes and made the day memorable. The next race in the Preston Harriers Junior Fell Championship is the Austwick Amble on the 28th May.