Northowram Pumas Running Club

Weekend Racing 🏃‍♀️🏃‍♂️

Oakwell Hall cancelled, so no Club Champ points up for grabs. Our Pumas headed elsewhere instead, with 51 Pumas in 28 locations, including three outside the England, with Dan Hill all the way in 🇨🇦

Gemma Louise – Sir Titus Trot 10K, hosted by It's Grim Up North Running, it follows the Leeds & Liverpool Canal around the Bingley area. Great run Gemma 🙌🏻

Here’s what she had to say:
“It was a super grim up north event that took in both Bingley’s 5 Rise and 3 Rise Locks with cake on the finish line, what’s not to love?” 🍰

Sunday we had Carrie and Steve out cheering Eddie Liles on as he took on the Sedbergh Fell Race, 14 miles with around 6,000ft of climbing in the Yorkshire Dales. A seriously tough fell race with plenty of big climbs and challenging terrain! Well done Eddie, only two U23s dared to take on the route! 💪🏼

Oulton Park – hosted by RunThrough

We had three Pumas in attendance as they raced their way around the iconic Oulton Park motor circuit in Cheshire. 🏎️🏃‍♀️

Sarah Hodkinson was a guide runner for Paul, and they did amazingly getting him around with a 10K PB. Great work, Sarah! 👏🏻

In the 20-mile race, we had Stephen Earle crossing the line in P4 and taking the M50 age category win 🥇

Even more inspiring was Lisa Hirst, showing us all how it’s done with an incredible run, taking the win for the females 🥇 and finishing P12 overall.

Finally, Natalie Proven took on the Clacton-on-Sea Half Marathon, a seaside race taking runners along the promenade and coastline. 🌊🏃‍♀️

Well done everyone, another incredible weekend of racing! 🐯

🔥 YVAA Grand Prix Race 7 – Slaithwaite Striders 🔥

Sunday brought the latest round of the YVAA Grand Prix, hosted by Slaithwaite Striders RC and with temperatures more suited to the Sahara than Slaithwaite, it was a tough one! 🥵☀️

A hilly 5.4-mile course but our 12 Pumas dug deep and everyone got round safe and sound 😜

A huge well done to everyone - some fantastic age category performances too 👏🏻

🏃🏻‍♂️ Paul Wilson – 🥈 M55
🏃🏻‍♂️ Paul Stockdale
🏃🏻‍♂️ Jon Ding – 🥉 M60
🏃🏻‍♂️ Luke Cranfield
🏃🏻‍♂️ Steve Chambers
🏃🏻‍♂️ David Holder
🏃🏻‍♂️ James Holmes
🏃🏻‍♀️ Ally Canning – 🥈 M40
🏃🏻‍♂️ Alan Sykes – 🥇 M75
🏃🏻‍♂️ Andy Flynn
🏃🏻‍♀️ Jodie Knowles
🏃🏻‍♂️ Andrew Mellor
🏃🏻‍♀️ Demelza Bottomley

And things are looking very tasty in the team standings 👀 With three potential age category team placings currently in sight if we can hold those positions through the season. Even better, four Pumas are looking strong for individual prizes too! 🏆

Today should have been YVAA Grand Prix Race #8, hosted by us, but with the heatwave and temperatures set to soar, the decision was made to postpone. Safety first! ☀️🥵

Hopefully we can get a new date in the diary soon — keep your eyes peeled! 👀

Thanks again to Slaithwaite Striders for another great race, and well done Pumas!

🏃 Saturday Parkrun Round Up and Club Champs

52 Pumas out at 24 locations across the UK and beyond.

🇩🇪 Outside the UK: Ziegelwiese, Germany – Andy Flynn & Rob Bowman collecting their alphabet letter Z.

Highlights:
🥇 Paul Wilson – 1st at Oakwell Hall.
🥇 Chris Newton – 1st at The Cinder Track.
👏 Big thanks to all the volunteers who help make Parkrun happen.

Shout out to the Oakwell Hall attendees with their first stab at earning points for the Champs race: Paul Wilson 🥇, Richard Haydock 🥈, Mark Dickinson, Paul Stockdale, Darren Attwood, John Williams.

Mark was too fast for the 📸😜

That’s week 2 of Oakwell Hall flexi parkrun for both champs. Three more weekends left to get your points in. Well done team 🐯

JOGLE complete ✅

On the 18th June, two of our members, Shaun Casey, Chairperson for NPRC, and his good friend Grant McConnell, set off on a huge adventure. To run the length of Britain, John o’ Groats to Land’s End (JOGLE), all self-supported.

Carrying everything, including their tents, sleeping kit, clothes and snacks. Stopping off at cafes, shops and pubs for their main meals. They were wild camping wherever they could but would allow themselves to stay in a B&B every now and then for a treat, and spent most of their time on trails rather than roads.

They’ve had an epic adventure, which we could write about for days. They captured the adventure through a daily blog on Britain End to End page if you want to have a read.

After running 475 miles through Scotland together and then Grant having the disappointment of getting injured and having to go home. Shaun continued his journey while Grant got sorted. Turns out it was an infected insect bite, and after two lots of antibiotics, his determination made him return to Carlisle (where he left) and finish the journey by bike.

The plan was to catch Shaun and finish together, unfortunately, the bike was simply too quick and Grant finished his journey alone on the 28th July after cycling 515 miles. 19 days running and 8 days cycling. Simply brilliant Grant, be proud.

Shaun continued on his way on foot and reached the end Tuesday 4th, a week after Grant. Having run for 48 days, covering a total of 1183 miles (hitting 1000 miles on day 40). What an incredible achievement.

Both raised money for a charity very close to their hearts and raised over £12k (with gift aid), which is phenomenal, thanks to the donations from family, friends and strangers they’ve met along the way.

Truly inspiring, gents. The Puma family and wider community can’t put into words how proud we are of you both. Now rest up and enjoy some time off.

On Sunday we had two Pumas take on Jane Tomlinson's Run For All York 10K 🏃‍♀️🏃‍♂️

A fast and flat city-centre race taking in some of York’s best-known sights, including the Minster, Clifford’s Tower and the historic city walls.

Huge well done to Sarah De’Athe, who ran with her sister, Gordon Brown, who is on a mission to run a race every month this year, and Anthony Wardle, who volunteered and was at the finish handing out medals. Well done, you three! 👏

Then a little closer to home, we had Nicola Flanagan and Lee Cousen take on the Leeds Half Marathon organised by The Fix Events which was actually Saturday not Sunday, sorry guys🙈. Both had a great run and enjoyed themselves - huge well done to you both! 👏

A great end to a fabulous weekend of racing. And the weather behaved too! ☀️🙌

Rounding off Saturday was a group of incredibly strong women. Consistency in training and grit got them through the She Strides 50K Ultra.

Our amazing Pumas were Gail Bailey, Jen Luwaji, Elizabeth Backhouse, Leanda Cox and Evie Newman.

All the ladies did exceptionally well, shout out to Evie having recently completed her first ultra distance of 30 miles at Endure in a pair, now taking on her first ultra in one go, and experiencing it with her mum, Leanda 💛 and Jen on completing her first ultra 👏🏻

They took on a stunning but tough 50km route through the beautiful Calderdale countryside, featuring moorland trails, woodland paths, reservoirs and picturesque villages, with a challenging 5000ft+ of elevation.

A big shout out too to Dianne Simpson and Sue Tozer, who volunteered throughout the day to help make the event a success.

Here’s what Jen had to say about her experience:

“She Strides Ultra delivered perfect weather, much cooler than it has been, and views so breathtaking they stopped me in my tracks - especially at my favourite place, Top Withens. From Hebden to Hardcastle Crags, Widdop, Stanbury, Haworth and Oxenhope, every mile was held together by a phenomenal community of strong, determined women lifting each other up, cheering loudly, and running with heart.

“So many emotions in one day, but crossing that finish line was pure joy, pride, and celebration. One of my best running experiences - memories made that will last a lifetime.”

An incredible achievement – well done to you all, we’re proud of you! 🐯💛

The photographers must’ve been tapering last weekend… luckily the runners weren’t! 😜

Last week, for Yorkshire Day, Dewsbury Road Runners hosted the Flat Caps 5, one of our Club Championship races.

Well done to the 12 Pumas who took part: Paul Stockdale, David Williams, Alan Sykes, Andrew Mellor, Zoe Inman-Waring, Neil Coupe, Andy Flynn, Demelza Bottomley, Joanne Langley, Sarah Alderson, Jay Graham and Gemma O’Brien.

⭐️ Age category win:
🥇 Alan Sykes – 1st M70

Club Champs points – first Pumas home to maximise on points:

Male
🥇 Paul Stockdale
🥈 David Williams
🥉 Alan Sykes

Female
🥇 Zoe Inman-Waring
🥈 Demelza Bottomley
🥉 Joanne Langley

On Saturday, our flexi run for Oakwell Hall got underway for the Parkrun Champs, with Keith Birkhead, Stuart Thornton, Andrew Mellor, Rachel Williams, Michael Hartley, Anita Hewitt, Jodie Knowles, Dan Hill, Ellie May, Anthony Wardle, David Nattrass, Natalie Provan and Louise Nattrass all heading out to set their first benchmark. Will they be back to improve it? 👀

A huge congratulations as well to Drew Harper, who completed his 100th parkrun at Flint Castle and became only the sixth Puma to join the Cowell Club. Amazing achievement, Drew! 👏

And a shout-out to all 39 Pumas who took part at parkruns across 14 locations, along with all our fantastic volunteers. 🙌

And that’s only the beginning of this week’s racing round-up… stay tuned, there’s plenty more to come! 👀

On Wednesday post club run we held a special Pub n’ Grub night to celebrate all things Endure24.

We had several members come up to share their experience from solos, pairs and teams and pass on their top tips. Hearing everyone’s stories, from first-timers to seasoned runners, was genuinely inspiring and funny at times too. For those who couldn’t make it we celebrated their achievements for them 👏🏻

It’s an honour to stand alongside these legends, celebrating what they all achieved and hearing the journeys behind the miles. It really was one of those goosebump moments that reminds you what this club is all about.

Thank you all for making it such a great evening ❤️💛🖤🐯

A fairly quiet weekend as far as Puma racing is concerned. Nevertheless, Pumas were still out in force on Saturday morning for parkrun. We had 53 Pumas out across 18 locations, with Blair Buss, Andrew Mellor, Andrew Smith, David and Louise Nattress at Bramley for our parkrun championships. It was the last weekend to secure points. Well done to everyone who attended over the month. Results are pending… 👀

Meanwhile, two strong ladies were taking on the brutal Lakeland events in the Lake District.

Rachel Williams lined up for the Lakeland 100. Unfortunately, it wasn’t her day, with the high overnight humidity leading to an ongoing battle with sickness. Despite that, she battled her way through 51 miles of the toughest terrain on the course before making the sensible decision to stop at Dockray. A gutsy (no pun intended) effort and no doubt she’ll be back.

Dawn Higgins took on the Lakeland 50. With cooler conditions during the day, still humid and followed by rain overnight, she tackled the challenging course brilliantly, 50 miles and 10,000ft vert, crossing the finish line with a fantastic 45-minute PB. Huge congratulations, Dawn! 💪🏼

Well done to everyone who raced and had another great weekend.

Puma Racing Round-Up - kicked things off at the weekend with 50 Pumas out at 16 parkrun locations this weekend.

This was the penultimate weekend of our Bramley parkrun Championships. A huge well done to Paul Wilson, Paul Stockdale, Tom Lemanski, Jason Brown, Jordan Barker, Joanne Langley, Sarah Alderson and Rosie García each picking up valuable points.

On Saturday, a group of our strong Puma women took on the She Strides Trail Metric Marathon – that’s 26.2km (16.3 miles) of stunning trails, including the climb to Stoodley Pike, over the tops to the White House and back. A massive congratulations to Sue Tozer, Dianne Simpson, Gail Bailey, Jen LuLu, Kimberley Tipling, Becky Judd, Nicola Rathbone and Karen Leech. Every one of them smashed it, enjoyed the day, and came away with some pretty cool medals too! 💪🏼

Keeping things firmly off-road, Scott Parry, James Holmes and Andrew Tudor took on the Ingleborough Fell Race. This classic Yorkshire fell race packs plenty of climbing, fast descents and spectacular views into just under seven miles and over 1600ft vert. Fantastic running, lads! ⛰️

Finally on Sunday, we had four teams competing in the YVAA Relays at Wyke. Each team runs three legs of approximately 4.5km, with the Wyke track made up of inner and outer loops. One lap of both loops totals around 1.5km, so each runner completes three laps before handing over to their teammate. Fast and feisty racing around the cycle track made for a brilliant of team competition and true Puma Style. Four teams covered three age cats, we didn’t get the podiums but a sterling job and close 🙌🏻

M40–49
Team 1 (7th): Steve Chambers, Martin Klavon, Tom Lemanski
Team 2 (11th): Paul Stockdale, Matt Tate, Scott Parry

M50–59 (6th)
Mark Dickinson, Andy Haslam, Paul Wilson

M60–69 (4th)
Jon Ding, Bryn Barker, Blair Buss

A brilliant weekend of racing across road, trail, fell and relay. Well done everyone! 🐯