Heroics on the Haworth Hobble

Saturday 14th March was certainly a red letter day for Team TAC at the Haworth Hobble.

This is a testing 32-mile ultra-marathon just over the Pennines in the heart of Bronte Country. It follows a largely off-road circuit across stretches of Pennine moorland taking in Widdop, Coal Clough wind farm, Todmorden, Stoodley Pike and Heptonstall along the way.

Over 300 runners assembled on the famous cobbled street of Haworth including 17 Humbugs – an incredible club showing for such a race! Some were running in pairs, others solo, but a certain Chris Singleton had his sights set high after months of rigorous training.

Amongst the starting line-up were some fearsome opponents including Jez Bragg, twice Fellsman champion, and Marcus Scotney, former winner of the epic Spine Challenger race and runner-up in last year’s Lakeland 50. Both are hardened ultra-distance runners who have represented Great Britain.

Chris on the other hand, as we know, is a local lad from Colne with three children, a busy full time job, and a life-long love of running. Plus this was only his second ever ultra event.

Conditions around the course were harsh with miles of shoe-sucking mud and energy-sapping climbs. But none of this stopped Chris going off like a rocket and leading from the off.

He hardly dare look back to see how close his competitors were, so he kept his foot on the gas and pressed on with all his might. He powered home in an astonishing 4 hrs 9 mins to win the race, over nine minutes ahead of his closest rival!

There were some great results from other members of Trawden AC too with Jim and Jenny Garside scooping first mixed pair in 6h 17m, and Paul Redman and yours truly claiming third pair overall in 5h 28m.

This is a well organised event with a great atmosphere and varied scenic course, albeit a pretty testing one. The checkpoints are staffed by friendly folk and stocked with long-distance runners’ delights like jam doughnuts, hot dogs, biccies, hot cross buns, and even whisky!

So can we top more than 17 next year and could Chris break four hours…?

Photos of Chris, Kerrie and Jenny used with kind permission of Sports Sunday Event Photogrpahy