THREE Swaledale Runners travelled to the Lake District for the Black Combe fell race (8 miles, 3300 feet climbing) near Millom on March 11th.

This gruelling race climbs Black Combe twice from different directions and has a reputation for thick mists and difficult navigation. Many of the nation's top fellrunners have gone off route in previous years, and this year it was the turn of Swaledale's fell champion Tim Grimwood to go wandering. As a result, the three runners finished unusually close together. Tim finishes towards the top of the field in our local races but admits to still being a novice in the Lakes, and finished a modest 116th of 175 runners in 114.39. He estimates he lost 15 to 20 minutes exploring the misty summit.The club's very own Cumbrian born runner Jim Coldwell, was 131st in 118.12 followed by Becky Barnett, 136th in 119.03.

Last weekend four members ran in the Thirsk 10k road race in very windy conditions. Andrew Fletcher was 3rd V55 in 67.20 with Mark Sowerby not far behind in 67.54. Pete Devlin finished in 92.06 and Roger Brisley in 95.53.