Orrell’s Bleak Doctor

A note on race categories here

Orrell's Bleak Doctor on Mon 10th Aug 2026

If the volume and extent of pre-race grumbling from Keith is any measure of the quality of a race route, then this one was always destined to be an instant classic; and so it proved, on a glorious early August evening, with multiple changes of position and marginal variations in lines as our game (mid-field) racers played cat and mouse right across Bleaklow.  Fulsome thanks are therefore due to Jim O for an excellent new route.

The returning Tom S inevitably thrashed the pants off the rest of us, with only Martyn J earning a bonus on the back of a welcome return to something approximating his former self.  Tom W had another corking run, and was all too happy to relate the quality of his final line from Pennine Way to Doctor’s Gate, whilst Keith and Barry both recorded impressive times too.  Tim H, on the other hand, took a tumble in a clough - considerably to the detriment of his back - and limped home in the gloaming, shortly in advance of the need to summon a search party.

With only three races to go, every completion counts; demonstrated by the fact that eleven of the night’s participants climbed one or more places in the league standings.

Next week, a last minute change sees the Grainfoot race standing in for the Hurkling Howler, since Bradfield Moors has been closed at short notice by the land owners for the next few Mondays.