ALISTAIR Brownlee completed a festive double by winning the Auld Lang Syne Fell Race at Haworth on New Year’s Eve.
The Olympic triathlon champion followed up his victory in Boxing Day’s Chevin Chase with another victory in a race run in icy conditions on Penistone Hill.
It rounded off a year which saw him win gold at the Commonwealth Games in Glasgow and he was made to work hard for his final success of 2014 as just 24 seconds covered the top four.
It was his fourth Auld Lang Syne victory, following his wins in 2007, 2009 and 2011.
Alistair, who crossed the line in 38min 28 sec, finished just seven seconds ahead of British triathlon champion Mark Buckingham.
Jonny Brownlee, the 2012 winner, was a further nine seconds back and 11-times winner Ian Holmes of Bingley Harriers was fourth in 38.52.
The winner admitted afterwards just how tough the conditions were for an event which attracted many runners competing in fancy dress alongside the elite competitors.
The Bramhope-based star said: “The race route was changed to my preferred option. On reflection this was a terrible mistake because it meant an entire race of plodding through freezing cold bogs and not a single good stride, but I loved every second.
“Without wanting to sound like a broken record, my route choice wasn’t the best which Holmsey took full advantage of. He flew past me on the descent from the Stoop.
“Along with Jonny and Bucko we had a four-way race back to the finish and I just sneaked the win.”
He added: “The costumes and enthusiasm were better than ever and it was fantastic to see so many folk having a grand, if rather chilly, day out.”
The first woman to finish was the 2014 FV40 British and English Fell Running champion Helen Berry, who was 31st overall. The recent Stoop Fell Race women’s winner Caitlin Rice was 39th.
One of the unsung heroes was Keighley & Craven’s Dick Ballantine. He used his 4x4 to ferry the Daleside Beer – every finisher received a bottle – up to the cricket club. On race day he spread ten bags of grit on the track onto Penistone Hill at 6am and then finished 99th out of the hardy 397 runners.
Top 40 Finishers: 1 Alistair Brownlee (Bingley) 38.28, 2.Mark Buckingham (Holmfirth) 38.35, 3 Jonny Brownlee (Bingley) 38.44, 4 Ian Holmes (Bingley) 38.52, 5 Gordon Benson (Leeds City) 40.36, 6 William Neill (Merci) 40.56, 7 Christian Holmes (Wharfedale) 41.10, 8 Richard Varga (Slovakia) 41.15, 9 Adam Osborne (Leeds City) 41.18, 10 Alex Whittem (Calder) 41.30, 11 Christopher Holdsworth (Clayton) 41.35, 12 Julian Hood (Barlick) 41.48, 13 Chris Leigh (Pennine) 42.03, 14 Matt Nuttall (Blackburn) 42.16, 15 Killian Mooney (Horwich RMI) 42.33, 16 Nicholas Charlesworth (Wharfedale) 42.56, 17 Ben Stevens (Ilkley Harriers) 43.02, 18 Andy Brown (Bingley) 43.15, 19 Dave Lund (Dark Peak ) 43.47, 20 Dave Kirkham (Wharfedale) 43.51, 21 Matthew Hallam (Valley Striders) 43.53, 22 Lukas Siska (USA) 43.54, 23 Mark Russell (Swinton) 43.57, 24 Graham Moffatt (Dark Peak) 44.00, 25 Julian Goudge (Chorley) 44.08, 26 Martin Dawson (N. Derbyshire) 44.10, 27 David Alcock (Pudsey & Bramley) 44.17, 28 Jonny Mclean (Holmfirth) 44.29, 29 David Parkin (Swinton) 44.43, 30 Edward Evans (Craven Energy) 44.50, 31 Helen Berry (Holmfirth) 44.57, 32 Chris Jackson (Glossopdale) 45.10, 33 Marc Sennett (Wharfedale) 45.18, 34 Scott Bairstow (Keighley & Craven) 45.24, 35 Stephen Smithies (Calder Valley) 45.29, 36 John Mason (Wakefield Harriers) 45.35, 37 Matt Higham (Stainland Lions) 45.38 38 Andrew Powell (Lincoln 45.42, 39 Caitlin Rice (Glossopdale) 45.44, 40 Rhys Davey (Bramhope Deers) 45.49
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