Pattinson stars as Hope springs eternal

10:37am Tuesday 8th April 2008

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Richard Pattinson edged out Pudsey & Bramley team-mate Jamie Noon to win the Baildon Boundary Way event.

There was also a last-ditch British Championship fell race victory for Rob Hope in Northern Ireland as the Pudsey club enjoyed a successful weekend.

The Baildon Boundary Way again sold out early, with 364 runners and over 50 walkers completing the half-marathon off-road course.

Organisers Baildon Runners are supported by the Long-Distance Walkers Association, drawing members from across the UK for the event. Indeed, several walkers from the Wye Valley were almost as fast as some runners.

Pattinson and Noon fought a close battle, with Pattinson eventually winning by the slender margin of five seconds in 81min 19sec.

Host club runner Quentin Lewis was an impressive third (84.25), with Will Kerr of St Bede's - in a final outing before the London Marathon - seventh in 86.16.

Kerr ran isolated, a minute behind Ilkley's Jamie Hutchinson and a minute ahead of a trio comprising Shaun Wilkinson of Keighley & Craven and Bingley pair Robin Lawrence and Paul Mitchell. These ten were well clear of the pack.

Valley Striders' strong women's section impressed again with a one-two finish. Catherine Farrow (93.29) beat Laura Clark (94.24), leading home Dawn Gibbs (York Acorn) and Ilkley's Sally Malir in 98.44.

Local clubs Bingley Harriers, Idle AC, Ilkley Harriers, Keighley & Craven and St Bede's all put out teams of a dozen to 20.

Elsewhere, the 4.5-mile Pendle fell race was won by Bingley's Andy Peace (32.41), who capitalised on many of the top runners being at Mourne in Northern Ireland.

Clubmate Victoria Wilkinson had a storming run to finish in 34.38, just outside Carol Greenwood's course record.

The Mourne Mountains race was specially created as a counter towards the British Championship and involved ten summits in just over 12 miles with 6,200 feet of climb.

The winner was Hope, who finished in 2hr 10min 0sec - just five seconds ahead of Jethro Lennox (Shettleston), who had been leading until he fell in a pool of mud a few yards short of the line.

Angela Mudge (Carnethy) finished 27th out of 192 finishers in 2:27:12, while Skyrac's Graham Breeze was seventh V60 in 3:31:54.

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