IN-FORM Holmfirth Harrier Tom Brunt overcame peat bogs, persistent fog and the opposition to win the Wadsworth Trog fell race near Hebden Bridge.
The 20-mile race includes several sections of extremely featureless moorland where accurate navigation is crucial – so dense mist leading to near-zero visibility made the route-finding particularly demanding.
Brunt ran almost all the way with Paul Thompson of Clayton-le-Moor Harriers before putting in a decisive burst of speed on the final climb to finish over a minute ahead of his rival.
Mick Flatley of Middleton Harriers was third finisher and first V40. Helen Jackson of Bingley Harriers took the women’s title and 25th overall out of the 118 runners.
Also running from Holmfirth were Dave Knight and Ian Shuttleworth, who were evenly-matched speed-wise for much of the race.
Knight pulled away in the latter stages, but then took a wrong turning that resulted in a 2.5-mile detour. That costly error allowed Shuttleworth to regain the initiative and he went on to claim the bragging rights over his teammate.
The race organisers, Calder Valley Fell Runners, coped extremely well with the difficult conditions and put on an excellent event.
Holmfirth results: 1 Tom Brunt 3-00.24; 99 Ian Shuttleworth 4-38.53; 102 Dave Knight 4-45.20.
