Race Reports 2026
HALE 10K - 15th FEBRUARY 2026
The lovely village of Hale hosted the 2nd race in the 2026 RRR Championship - the 2nd time the club has taken on this event. The name Hale may mean 'shelter', but the 53 RRRs gathered at the start might dispute that definition. The wind was very much up & at ’em.
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The course begins at Ashey Hall, then winds through Hale village & the back lanes of Ashley before returning to the hall for the finish. Conditions were tough, with punishing headwinds on exposed sections & more than a few potholes to negotiate. You’d think those Premiership footballers might be able to sort the roads out, wouldn’t you?
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Onto the racing. A special mention goes to Brett Spivey for being 1st…to arrive. Having forgotten to enter, he turned up 2 1/2 hours early to secure a place. Ironically he was handed an 'elite' entry, suggesting a predicted finish of around 32 minutes. Sadly, that target proved elusive & for a few days after the race he remained officially without a time!
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1st home for RRR was Jarrod Gritt in an impressive 34:24, marking his 1st RRR race since 2024. Close behind was Rob James, followed by the ever-improving Jack Millar. Shane Reading was 4th RRR home & also secured 2nd place in the MV50 age category. Our Premiership competition is already shaping up to be fiercely contested this year.
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Maisie Wainwright led the RRR women home with a strong run in 39:13. Next was Rochelle Reading, followed by Katherine Brierley - her consistent track training clearly paying dividends. As reliable as rain, June Allingan claimed the FV80 prize once again. Who can stop this phenomenon? At the other end of the age spectrum, Henry Tattersall took part in the 3K event, finishing in 19:27 and proudly collecting his medal. A quick bit of arithmetic suggests there’s roughly 150 years between June & Henry — give or take!
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All the RRR finishing times: June Allingan (1:23:31), Stacey Douglas (1:19:47), Bernadette Ball (1:14:34), Alison Cresswell (1:11:06), Gill Bardsley (1:09:13), Samantha Tattersall (1:07:55), Ronnie Quinn (1:07:36), Elaine Brown (1:05:06), Sharon Leach (1:03:50), Sharon Dracup (1:03:27), Richard Douglas (1:03:18), Howard Mills (1:03:08), Diane Johnson (1:03:00), Natali Brown (1:02:29), Martina Naismith (1:02:20), Nicky Hall (1:01:34), Billie Chamberlain (1:01:19), Amanda Richardson (1:00:46), Dave Bardsley (59:17), Claire Timms (59:12), Sam Wright (57:44), Rachel Chadwick (56:07), Stephen Rogowskyj (54:21), Anne Marie Lord (54:13), Gary Smith (53:08), Andrew Naismith (53:06), Bernard Cassidy (52:25), Katherine Brierley (52:16), Mark Heaney (52:15), Simon Howard (52:06), Mark Foran (50:30), Dave Watt (49:13), John Hendrick (49:10), Martin Kent (48:10), Rochelle Reading (46:58), Ray Williams (46:40), Mark Phelan (46:37), David Emanuel (44:35), Bernard Goodwin (43:50), Andrew Ingham (43:36), Adrian Brown (43:07), Francois Clavaud (41:09), Ryan Frost (40:32), James Moulton (40:08), Elliot Stone (40:07), Andrew Rogers (39:23), Maisie Wainwright (39:13), Luke Lawson-Healey (38:11), Brett Spivey (37:40), Shane Reading (37:23), Jack Millar (36:51), Rob James (34:41) & Jarrod Gritt (34:24).
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A pair of RRRs reached club milestones - congratulations to Gill Bardsley & Stacey Douglas on completing their 10th club race. ​Finally, the palindrome returns. After missing from the previous race, Bernie Cassidy produced a beautifully symmetrical 52:25.
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Next up: the Tameside 5K on 7th March - a quick one. See you there.​​ ​[Elliot Stone]
STOCKPORT DAFFODIL 10K - 25th JANUARY 2026
Welcome! Welcome! Welcome!
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Welcome to you if you are a new member of Royton Road Runners. Welcome to you if this was your 1st time running the 'Daffodil' 10K (it’s the club’s 3rd time). Plus, of course, welcome back to you if you are one of those crazy people who turn up year-in, year-out!
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It was great to see so many RRRs at the 1st race of our 2026 Club Championship. 84 entrants started the race & 83 made it over the finishing line (bad luck Neil). This is an incredible start to the season, our best total since we had the same number at the Dewsbury 10K in 2020 – just before Covid. Dave E found that 31 of our finishers at the 'Daff' also finished that race at Dewsbury 6 years ago. In addition, Neil Brock was also running yesterday but pulled out with an injury, Mark Kelly (having relocated across the Welsh border) was here running for Denbigh Harriers & Stewart Jones was supporting Karen & Bryony. All these repeat appearances show the enjoyment being a member of such a fine team brings.
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The Stockport Daffodil 10K takes place in the salubrious suburb of Hazel Grove. It was known as Bullock Smithy until 1836, when the villagers wisely adopted Hazel Grove as a more poetic name. The race itself is perhaps most notable for mostly taking place on the A555 Airport Link Road. For drivers this road being temporarily closed is quite the norm, but for runners it makes for an unusual chance to race on what is normally a busy stretch of road closed to pedestrians. Talking of pedestrians, there certainly was a lack of any 'pedestrian pace' in the RRR performances as everyone seemed eager to get the year off to a flying start. As it’s the 1st race of the year we will go through the results in chronological order. However, I do try to cover as many RRRs as I can throughout the year regardless of times. So, if you have any stories or landmarks that you feel are worth mentioning in a report, please let me know.
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The 1st 3 RRRs home were Rob James (35:40), Jack Millar (36:38) & James Henderson (37:00), good enough to claim 2nd place in the men’s team event behind Stockport Harriers. Additionally, James picked up the MV50 individual prize. A very notable mention for the 4th placed RRR, Shane Reading, who completed his 200th RRR club race – some feat indeed.
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Our 1st female finisher was Maisie Wainwright in 39:24, just 7 seconds outside the PB she set at the Hale 10K last year & good enough for 3rd place female overall. A fantastic achievement considering the size of the field (1800+). It was also Maisie’s 25th club race. Even better though, Maisie was part of the 1st-placed female team along with Rochelle Reading (47:56) and Gail Shaw (48:42). Well done all!
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For those unfamiliar with these race reports you will become familiar with seeing the name of a club legend, June Allingan, popping up regularly throughout the year. Continuing last year’s theme, she once again claimed the FV80 prize in a time of (1:24:51). Spectacular.
All the RRR finishers: Dave Leyland (1:31:53), June Allingan (1:24:51), Stacey Douglas (1:18:35), Bernadette Ball (1:17:04), Gill Bardsley (1:13:11), Chris Sharp (1:12:19), Alison Cresswell (1:11:20), Lisa Wilson (1:09:16), Samantha Tattersall (1:08:24), Richard Douglas (1:06:25), Joanne Lawton (1:06:19), Jason Keast (1:05:44), Dave Bardsley (1:05:22), Howard Mills (1:05:14), Natali Brown (1:05:08), Paul Cooke (1:04:28), Elaine Brown (1:04:16), Billie Chamberlain (1:04:10), Karen Jones (1:04:07), Christopher Eavers (1:03:41), Lauren Lewis (1:03:37), Alison Royle (1:02:58), Nicky Hall (1:02:44), Martina Naismith (1:02:33), Claire Timms (1:02:19), Gareth McCaffery (1:01:53), Amanda Richardson (1:01:16), Bryony Jones (1:00:42), Rebecca Owen (1:00:23), Kirsty Agnew (58:06), Susan Levins (58:04), Sam Wright (58:00), Rachel Chadwick (57:56), Kevin Hutchings (57:21), James Wright (56:23), Owen Flage (56:20), Anne Marie Lord (55:27), Matthew Cartner (54:44), Stephen Rogowskyj (54:42), Katherine Brierley (54:24), Jonathan Green (53:06), Simon Howard (52:50), Suzanne Darke (52:44), Bernard Cassidy (52:43), Scarlet Wheeldon (52:34), Gary Smith (51:38), Dave Peart (51:19), Mark Foran (50:18), Bryony Rogers (50:12), Martin Kent (49:23), Trish Callan (49:20), John Hendrick (49:04), Bryan Lawton (48:57), Gail Shaw (48:42), Rochelle Reading (47:56), Ray Williams (47:44), Mark Duncan (47:02), Mark Phelan (46:51), John Fay (46:37), James Bowling (46:17), Andy Hall (46:01), Adrian Brown (45:43), Mark Baxendale (45:13), David Emanuel (45:06), Oliver Pozegic (44:50), Will Lewis (44:43), Carl O'Callaghan (44:41), Bernard Goodwin (43:46), Andrew Ingham (43:22), Francois Clavaud (42:21), James Moulton (41:40), Elliot Stone (41:18), Luke Lawson-Healey (41:02), William Wall (40:27), Andrew Rogers (39:49), Maisie Wainwright (39:24), Martin Thompson (39:15), Brett Spivey (38:53), Michael Fleming (37:50), Shane Reading (37:31), James Henderson (37:00), Jack Millar (36:38) & Rob James (35:40).
Well done to Samantha Tattersall & Mark Foran for reaching their 25th RRR race. Johnathan Green also deserves a pat on the back for reaching his 10th. Last, but not least, congratulations to the large number who completed their 1st club race with us, namely Will Lewis, John Hendrick, Martin Kent, Scarlet Wheeldon, Susan Levins, Rebecca Owen, Lauren Lewis & Chris Sharp. Welcome all & good luck for the future.
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Sadly, there were no palindromic times in this race (fingers crossed for Hale) but Bryan Lawton & John Hendrick both finished with the synchronous chip time of 48:57 despite finishing 1min 44secs apart at the finishing line!
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Our next club race is the Hale 10K – a good one for PBs. See you there! [Elliot Stone]
