www.puddingrace.org.uk

Despite the wettest June on record and most of South Yorkshire being under several feet of water, we managed to have good weather for the morning of the run.  We had access to the Pavilion for registration just in case and I hope everyone found this a better place to register and get organized.  The turn-out was excellent given the conditions and the poor forecast – around 150 in the Senior Fell Run and 110 in the Junior/Run run.  These are ideal figures for us – the record of 350 last year pushed our (limited!) organizational skills to cracking point.

As a result of the very wet and muddy conditions we weren’t expecting any records to be set – and they weren’t.  The winning times were, however, very respectable given that the paths were ankle deep in mud in places. 

On the red course the winner was Andrew Thake of Hallamshire Harriers, in his first Pudding Race, in a time of 40.05, followed by Stuart Bond and Lloyd Taggart.  Andy also won the “Top of the Hill” prize.  Dark Peak Fellrunners turned out in numbers and occupied 5 of the top 10 places.

The first local man was Mark Buckingham, followed by Graham Jones and Rodney Billinge.

In the ladies race Christine Howard of Matlock AC won for the second year running, in a time of 48.57, with Jackie Lee and Jodie Fidler in second and third. 

On the Blue course we had a very varied entry with several adults running alongside intermediate and junior children, including Ben Gill and Elizabeth Webster who are only 3 years old! The overall winner was Tom Barker in a record time of 18.48.  The first girl was Fiona Gilbert, a regular in the Pudding Race, with a time of 21.16.  The first Senior home was Gemma Steele.  The full results are available in the results section.

Overall the day was a great success, with surprisingly good weather and a good turn out helping us to raise a lot of money for local causes.  My fellow organizer, Joe Oldfield, and I would like to thank all those people who helped on the day, especially  Alison and Charlotte Sizer, Nicky and Katie Bacon, Dennis and Sheila Mooney, Cheryl Smith, Lauren Thomas, Hannah Scott, and the men from Bakewell Mannerians who helped to marshal the course. Thanks also to members of the Carnival Committee, especially David Surplice and Dave Rawson.

A big thanks to Bakewell Pudding Parlour for once again generously donating 300 individual Bakewell Puddings so that we could give one to every participant.

I hope that you agree that it is a wonderful and varied run, on both the red and blue courses.  The mix of terrain and the wonderful views make it a very special run. If there is any aspect of either race or the event as a whole that you think we need to look at then please let us know by using the "contact us" link on our website.

John Scott and Joe Oldfield

On behalf of the Race Organisers