It’s three in row for Fell ace Hope (From Lancashire Telegraph)

It’s three in row for Fell ace Hope

12:10pm Thursday 9th July 2009 in

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ROB Hope has won his third successive British Fell Championship, and with a race still to go, James Kevan is the U23 champion for the second time.

In the third race of the season at Tebay near Penrith, Katie Ingram earned selection for the England team at the Snowdon International on July 25, but this weekend she will be in Austria with the Great Britain and Northern Ireland team as the senior women look for a successful defence of their European Championship.

After his latest success, Hope joins Kenny Stuart and Colin Donnelly, who each won three consecutive British titles in the 1980s, and next year he will be looking to be first to make it four in row. Bingley’s Ian Holmes is the only man to hold four titles, but it took him five years to do it.

The campaign started at the short 3.8-mile Slieve Bearnagh in the Mourne Mountains of Northern Ireland, which Hope won ahead of his brother Danny.

Tactics played a part in the 14- mile long Stuc a’Chroin race at Perthshire in Scotland where he ran conservatively to maintain his advantage.

He feels he could have won, but took no risks and was happy to finish third in the longest race, with all his main rivals behind him.

The Wheelton-based athlete has been critical of the new Championship format where the races have been reduced from six to four, referring to it as a lottery.

The long and medium distance events are compulsory with an athlete’s better score from the two short races being added to the total.

It means that an untimely injury can wreck a whole season and his fears were borne out when one of his main rivals, Morgan Donnelly, was forced to retire with cramp at Tebay after previous third and fourth places.

The eight miler, classed as medium length, was hit by controversy after one of the checkpoints was put in the wrong place allowing three of the leaders to take a shortcut.

Those who followed the official map, including Hope, were disadvantaged and he could manage only fourth.

Although that was sufficient to clinch the British title, he has appealed the result as the race was a double header and affects the English Championship standings too.

James Kevan, the Horwich RMI Harrier from Chorley, has become the first man to win two U23 titles since the class was introduced in 2006.

The 22-year old probably enjoyed an even better season in 2008 when he was in the top 20 against the seniors, but having changed jobs his training regime suffered over the winter months. Still he has been too strong for his rivals, winning in Scotland and England, and finishing second in Northern Ireland.

With just the Y Garn race in Wales to go, two Clayton-le-Moors Harriers are guaranteed British Championship medals.

Jack Holt in the over 60 men’s and Wendy Dodds in the over 50 women’s classes will each take silvers, although Wendy could still have to share hers.

Both of them have two second and one third place to their credit.

Katie Ingram is the only survivor from the victorious Great Britain and NI senior women’s team that took European Championship gold in the Black Forest mountains of Germany 12 months ago.

They could find it harder at Telfes in Austria on Sunday as the championships alternate between this year’s uphill only format favoured by the continentals, and the traditional English up-and-down races which were featured last year.

To try and replicate race day, the trial was held on an uphill course on Snowdon, and Katie finished second behind Kate Goodhead to win a place in the four woman team.

Ingram was recently seen racing close to her home in Astley Village, Chorley, at the Night Race Series hosted by her former club, Chorley Harriers. For several years she has been chipping away at the course record set by ex-clubmate Vicky Gill, getting the gap down to a couple of seconds.

The record was finally put out of her reach when the circuit was replaced by a new one in Astley Park, but in the third race of the summer last Wednesday she set the fastest time yet, beating Lisa Heyes’ time for the 4.4 miles by over two minutes. She will leave for Austria in good heart.