Winter Hill Runner, Donna Kelsall travelled to Barley, in Lancashire, to compete on the Tour of Pendle fell race and knocked a big chunk of he time from last year.

‘The Tour’ is the classic late-season long race that takes a ‘figure-of-eight’ course around the remote areas of Pendle Hill, covering 16.8 miles and just short of 5,000 feet of ascent.

After a first visit to the Trig, there is a long, fast descent of the length of Pendle to the ‘Nick of Pendle’ and then Churn Clough.

A steep climb up Spence Moor is followed by the notorious ‘Geronimo’ descent into Ogden Valley. After regaining the plateau and retracing footsteps towards the ‘Nick’, runners are faced with three major climbs - each one steeper and longer than the last, before a second pass of the Trig and a long run off back to Barley.

The recent rain had made the Lancashire countryside muddier than ever, but these fell runners are used to that.

Kelsall got off to a flying start as she made her first visit to the trig at the top of Pendle and never looked back.

Despite the waist-high bogs and raging rivers to cross, Kelsall was on a mission having spent months training for this.

Not only did she finish the race with a smile on her face, she also managed to knock an astounding 41 minutes off last years’ time, finishing in a fantastic 4hrs 8mins.