Bev Redfern had an outstanding run at Saturday’s Allendale Challenge to collect the trophy for first lady.
Weather conditions were ideal and, more importantly, underfoot conditions were generally dry and made for good running over the notorious peat bogs which are a major feature of the ‘Allendale’.
Bev set off at a steady pace and had overtaken the leading women before the checkpoint at Hard Rigg. Bev’s offroad experience then started to show as she opened up a substantial lead over the rough terain to Killhope Law. By eating and drinking early in the race, Bev was able to keep her pace going up over The Drag and had a strong finish to clock 4 hours 11 minutes for the 25.9 miles. Second and third places were also taken by Tynedale ladies with Steph Scott finishing in 4 hours 23 minutes and Rachel Chinnery, last years winner, in 4 hours 28 minutes. Steph is currently training for a Bob Graham attempt this summer and Rachel has the London Marathon in her sights so both were using this to build enduance and stamina.
For the men, Paul Gaines came second overall in 3 hours 50 minutes only two minutes behind the leader, Mark Thompson. Ian Brown was next for Tyndale in 13th position clocking 4 hours 6 minutes for the distance. Ian and Bev had run together for about 19 miles and only separated on ‘The Drag’ as Ian pulled away on the long climb. Bernard Kivlehan finished 23rd overall (from 97 finishers) in 4 hours 29 minutes making this a great day for the Tynedale Harrier distance runners!
Ian Brown
