Fell Racing On The Up

15 OCT2010

After 7 events the Accelerate Gritstone reached its climax last weekend. Athletes from across the north of England attended the Windgather Fell Race, near Buxton for the final round of the Peaks premier fell race series. Fell runners had to complete five of the 7 events, which began in March at Wolf's Pit, Bradwell, with snow still lying on the ground. Sunday's conditions couldn't have been further removed with clear skies and fantastic views. This encouraged the events highest entry with 250 toeing the start line, a common theme at each of the Gritstone events.

Both Stuart Bond (Dark Peak) and Helen Elmore (Dark Peak) had already done enough to win the series outright and this was a mere formality for themHowever for the veteran runners it was to be a battle well fought. For the men it was Graham Moffatt (Dark Peak) and Mike Nolan (Dark Peak) who throughout the series had been tousling for honours in the over 40 category, repeatedly swapping places on the leader board. A close finish on the day saw Nolan come from behind to take the series honours, in what proved to be a hard fought race for the two runners.

On the day it was another Dark Peak runner who took the race win. Dave Tait ran away from the leaders as Stuart Bond took a wrong turn. Despite chasing hard Bond had to settle for second spot. That said he was well pleased with his Gritstone Series win and commented, "Once again a thoroughly enjoyable race series. If anyone out there wants an introduction to fell running, then this series is for you. It has everything from spills and thrills to great camaraderie between all runners irrespective of age and ability, and not forgetting a good pint at the end too!"

The Series was organised by Accelerate, the Sheffield based running store at Attercliffe. Along with each individual event organiser or club, they have put together all the information on each race and the series at www.gritstoneseries.co.uk

Series Winners 2010:
Men: Stuart Bond V40 Mike Nolan V50 Keith Holmes (Dark Peak)
Women: Helen Elmore V40 Steph Curtis (Fat Boys) V50 Katherine Harvey (Pennine)