British Championship Fell Running – Glen Clova (Angus Munro)

The penultimate race in the 2007 British Fell Running Championship took place on Saturday at the Glen Clova (Angus Munro) Hill Race in Scotland. The race is a tough 15 mile circut of the top end of Glen Clova which is at the southern end of the Cairngorms National Park. Initially misty conditions lifted soon after the lead runners had cleared the first checkpoint giving decent conditions for the remainder of the race and reducing the possibility of navigational errors. The race was contested by a relatively small field of 106, although this should not take away from the victory of the fast improving Tom Owens from Mercia, beating defending British champion Rob Jebb by nine seconds, finishing in a time of 2.39.09. Third was Pudsey and Bramleys Rob Hope in a time of 2.41.48. Robs third place means he is now the new British champion, with two firsts and two thirds in the series so far giving him an unassailable lead going into the final race.In the womens race the field was led home by Carnethys Jill Mykura in 3.07.26 with Janet McIver of Dark Peak coming home second 16 seconds later. Third was Karen Davison from Dark Peak in 3.15.09. The womens championship will not be decided untill the final race in the series, although it is looking as though Janet will emerge as the series champion. Full race results are avaliable on the SHR website. The next race in the series is the short Great Whernside race, which doubles as the last English championship counter on 6th October. Elsewhere this weekend runners were competing in the last of the Lakeland superlong races that make up the Lakeland Classics series. The Wasdale race, often regarded as the toughest race in the calendar was won in a time of around 3.45 by Ricky Lightfoot of Ellenborough with Mercias Pete Vale three seconds behind. The closeness of the pair in both Wasdale and Ennerdale has set up a two horse race going into the remaining races that make up the series.

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