Well done to all those who took part in this year’s Simonside Cairns Fell Race, situated just outside of Rothbury.
Although weather conditions were fine for running, the same couldn’t be said for conditions underfoot. To describe them as ghastly would be an understatement of the highest order. Snow, ice, waist deep bogs and foot high exposed tree stumps were just some of the obstacles competitors had to contend with. And I haven’t event got on to the couple of half mile long ascents that had to be tackled with the first two miles of the course.
Saturday’s cross country race was a walk in the park compared to this beastly event.
Despite the fantastic efforts of Sparrow Morley, Rob Clark and Paul Turnbull, Northumberland Fell Runners (NFR) narrowly beat Tyne Bridge to the Men’s team prize.
(NB: several members were running for NFR as their first claim fell running club 
)
Members results:
| Position | Time | Name | Club |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2 | 01:18:55 | Louis Goffe | NRF |
| 8 | 01:22:23 | Sparrow Morley | TBH |
| 9 | 01:22:24 | Rob Clark | TBH |
| 16 | 01:25:28 | Paul Turnbull | TBH |
| 20 | 01:27:58 | David Daniels | TBH |
| 21 | 01:28:51 | David Beech | TBH |
| 22 | 01:28:54 | Mark Hall | TBH |
| 32 | 01:31:51 | Jonathan Powell | TBH |
| 33 | 01:32:17 | John Tollitt | NFR |
| 39 | 01:35:56 | Gareth Huxley | NFR |
| 43 | 01:36:26 | Alan Wallace | TBH |
| 104 | Retired | Claire Rowley | NFR |
Full race results can be found here
Many thanks to Vicki Deritis for the following photographs.
David Beech (left)
Sparrow Morley
Paul Turnbull
Louis Goffe
Rob Clark
(far left) DD in hot pursuit
Mark Hall (l) and Jonathan Powell (r)
Gareth Huxley
John Tollitt
Alan Wallace (left)
Claire Rowley (3rd in line)
Rob Clark
Sparrow in full flight
Paul Turnbull
DD looking at a patch of ice ahead and thinking ‘don’t slip’. But he did!!
Mark Hall
David Beech (hampered by knee and thigh injuries)
John Tollitt
Jonathan Powell
2 Responses
Great performances from all the TBH Fel Division on what was a tough old route
Special mentions to Louis for finishing second, Gareth for running with a broken rib and Sparrow for choosing to run with twice his bodyweight in kit and still finish 8th.
This is developing into a nice little battle between TBH and NFR!
I would also like to give thanks to chap who happily watched me take the wrong route down a track, which more than got the competitive juices flowing.
It was another beautiful day out with great company and I’ve not had such a well earned and great tasting pint as the one downed in the Newcastle Hotel post race for a long time!