Sat 20 April 2019, Horwich A glorious hot sunny afternoon at Rivington greeted 9 Preston Harriers on Saturday for the classic Pike Fell Race. This is the second race in the Preston Harriers Junior Fell Championship. The races started at 12:30 and first off was ever improving Lucas Cooke in the under 11 category. He smashed the course in a brilliant 7:16, finishing 5th overall and only 11 seconds behind 3rd place. The under 13’s were up next with Matthew Buttery in his first race of the season, finishing a brilliant 7th in 11:02 and Hayden Ridgley with a stunning run in 10:38, taking 3rd place, only 6 seconds separating him from 1st and 2nd positions.
The girls were represented by Emily Knell and Grace Horne in the under 13 category. Both harriers had fine runs, which saw them climb to the top of the Pike in very warm conditions. Emily finished in the top 10 in 9th place in 18:09, closely followed by Grace in 13th in 20:41, which keeps the pressure on Emily in a closely contested battle for the Harriers Championship.
Finally, in the Junior section was Vladimir Wiggins in the under 15 boys race. He had another tremendous run finishing 6th overall in 15:56, extending his points tally in the Fell Championship. Well done to all the juniors who competed. The next Preston Harriers Junior Fell Championship Race is at Great Hameldon, Accrington on 5th May.
The Senior race saw 3 harriers take part in the iconic Category BS fell race, which is run from the Crown Hotel on Lever Park Avenue in Horwich. 1st Harrier home was Olga Wiggins in 33:23, a 2 minute improvement on her personal best time for this race. Hard on her heels was Elena Macdonald with a great run in 34:44, just over a minute behind Olga. Phil Lakeland completed Preston’s participation in the race with a very impressive run in 36:42, finishing 17 in the Vet 60 category. Again, well done to everyone who took part in the race and made it such a wonderful event.