The first fixture of the British Athletics Mountain Running Challenge took place at the Flower Scar fell race in Todmorden, West Yorkshire on Saturday 11 May, a race which hosted the Inter-Counties Championships.

Max Nicholls (Peter Brenchley, Kent) and Hatti Archer (Bud Baldaro, Derbyshire) were victorious in the men’s and women’s races on the hills of the Carr and Craggs Moor, taking full Mountain Challenge points on the first outing of the series.

Nicholls – an international at both world and European level – won the senior race for the first time winning by nine seconds from Dan Haworth (Derbyshire) with Scotland East’s Jonny Crickmore a further six seconds back, earning his place on the podium.

Cumbria’s Carl Bell and Matt Elkington were fourth and fifth, earning them the Inter-Counties team bronze, with Derbyshire taking gold and Scotland East in silver medal position.

There was a comfortable victory for Hatti Archer who has adapted superbly to the fell and mountain terrain in recent years after years of competing for GB & NI on the track.

She took the win by over two minutes from Cumbria’s Kelly Roberts and Yorkshire’s Katie Walshaw, the latter pair separated by a mere 30 seconds over the 13.3km undulating course.

Fourth and fifth places went to European medallist Emma Gould (William Laye, Staffordshire) and Georgia Tindley (Scotland East).

The British Athletics Mountain Running Challenge consists of three events with the next two fixtures at the Trial for the European Mountain Running Championships on 2 June 2019 at Skiddaw in Keswick, and then the British Athletics Mountain Running Championships incorporating the Senior Home Countries International & trial for the World Mountain Running Championship (up & down) in Betwys-y-Coed, Wales.

Full results can be found here.

The British Athletics Mountain Running Challenge standings can be found here.