Past Members
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Alan Kirk (May 1960 - September 2017)
Alan was one of Pennine's quality runners in every sense of the word and was much admired and looked up to by
everyone in the club.
Alan was always at the sharp end of most races he entered and won the Pennine championship in 2007 after many successful years as a runner
with Glossopdale Harriers.
Alan started his working life in the navy and afterwards joined the fire brigade before retiring to become a maths tutor at Tameside College.
During his time in the services he achieved a 10km time of 30 mins, which gives an indication of his talent.
Alan was diagnosed with a terminal and incurable brain tumour in 2014, but still managed to run regularly on the fells and to ascend Mont Blanc.
His grit, determination and pleasant demeanour was always an inspiration to us all.
Alan passed away in September 2017 after an extremely brave fight against his illness. The Lad's Leap fell race, organised by Des Gibbons, is
run in his memory every year in April and is often selected as a club or English Champs race. Alan is sorely missed by all of us.
Darren Holloway (10th August 1970 - 7th October 2012)
Darren tragically died whilst racing in Pennine colours on Leg 4 of the Hodgson Relay in 2012.
As well as being one of Pennine's best runners, Darren was also incredibly supportive of runners of all abilities. He'd generally finish in the top 10
of a race and then stand on the finish line cheering in the rest of his club mates until the very last one came in.
When he joined Pennine, Darren was a good Peak District runner but, through hard training and dedication, he turned himself into someone who was
regularly at the sharp end of the big Lakes Classics races. As a tribute to him, one of the toughest of these, the Buttermere Horseshoe race, is
run each year in his memory.
Bob Graham Round
Darren completed his Bob Graham Round on 28th June 2008. This started a bit of a love affair with the round, as he went on to assist many other
runners and even had a tattoo of the Moot Hall on his back!
Dave Jones (29th April 1943 - 20th March 2024)
Dave was always most at home with big days out in the hills, either long fell races or mountain marathons. However, once injury forced
him to hang up his running shoes, he was either out on his mountain bike or organising one of the many special Pennine events.
These included Winter Handicaps, Runner vs Bike, Mini Trans Pennine Relay, Bigstone Baffler and logistics for members' Bob Graham attempts.
Dave also organised the Boar's Head fell race for many years and the Eskdale Elevation race from 2016.
In addition, Dave arranged at least 2 hut weekends each year, where families were encouraged to come along with their young children to let them
experience the joys of the great outdoors.
As well as being a huge part of Pennine for many years, Dave was also very much involved in the wider fellrunning world. He had several posts on
the FRA committee including the Fixtures Secretary and the Fellrunner Magazine editor.
Dave was a teacher at Broadoak Comprehensive in Partington, where he introduced many pupils to the outdoors through the Duke of Edinburgh Award scheme.
Indeed, two of his former pupils are still Pennine members today.
Dennis Marshall (1946-2013)
Dennis landed in Glossop from New Zealand in 1989 for a 6 month stay but enjoyed the Peak District so much he stayed until 1995 before
returning home.
During this time Dennis became an active Pennine member, finishing 11th in his first ever fell race - Mount Famine!
In later years he returned to the UK and enjoyed trips to the Isle of Jura fell race along with the 'usual suspects'!
John McCall RIBA KFR
John ran a successful architectural practice based in Liverpool which had a satellite office in Hayfield for local projects. The practice's focus
was mainly, though not exclusively, on social housing.
Music, particularly blues and rock and roll music, was always a really important part of John's busy life and, for many years, he played with the
Downfall Band along with Dave Jones, Doug, Paul, our Monica and Foz. They entertained at many a Pennine "do" and summoned up even the most tired
and aching post-race legs for a bit of a bop.
John started running around 1980 in preparation for the Manchester marathon; his first fell race was the 1981 Lantern Pike and he joined Pennine
in the mid-eighties.
John competed in many local races on and off road, he also ran mountain marathons, triathlons and took part in adventure races such as the Highlands
and Islands and the Three Peaks. He was also the instigator of many still fondly remembered local fun events: the Bafflers, Time Trials and Friday
Night Challenges.
He was involved in facilitating most of the original Hayfield fell races and organised the Mount Famine race for many years. This race originally
started along Valley Road but there was a massive bottleneck at
the first gate. John's ingenious solution was to move the start beyond the gate and to run straight up the very steep Ella Bank creating probably
the best (?) start to any race.
John did enjoy competition, but it is fair to say that a sense of well-being, enjoyment, camaraderie and fun were always foremost in his running
and post running activities. Probably his favourite running was the Sunday training run. A group of pals would set out at a steady, leisurely pace and
just relish in the pleasure of being outdoors with like-minded people. Latterly, there were lots of landmark stopping points, often gates. There were
leaning gates, just to take in the surroundings and catch breath, spitting gates, gates where the world was put to rights and gates with a special view.
So, next time you go for a run, just pause at a gate, take some time to soak in the experience and you might just find that you have company……
John Williams
John Williams passed away in July 2023. Always keen to help and encourage others, he spent a lot of time and effort setting up lots of different navigational challenges for Pennine, from the mini-score events using tree tag markers to the longer any time events like the Choc-O that he put on over Christmas. As well as doing things for Pennine, John was also a regular volunteer on the FRA Navigation Courses. He loved all things nav-related, regularly taking part in events and mountain marathons. Indeed, he had been due to fly out to Switzerland, to compete in the Swiss Mountain Marathon, just days after he died.
Margaret Jones (8th May 1943 - 11 November 2019)
Margaret was Dave's right-hand woman. She enjoyed being in the hills and mountains. She competed in the Karrimor and Saunders Mountain Marathons and completed the Bullock Smithy. Margaret worked alongside Dave on the Boar's Head race which over the years raised thousands of pounds for charity. Dave and Margaret also worked together to establish the Eskdale Elevation race. It was Margaret's idea to run the inaugural Pennine Junior Handicaps, alongside the adult Winter Handicap series, which was an introduction to fell running for many of the club's current younger members. Junior runners were rewarded with certificates as well as hot Vimto and chocolate! Margaret firmly believed that it was beneficial for young people to grow up in a supportive club environment surrounded by a wide age range of adults.
Mark Boulton (17 December 1964 - 22 March 2020)
Born in Little Hayfield Mark was very proud of being a local fell runner and member of Pennine fell runners from back in the early 1990's.
Mark was a very accomplished fell runner, cyclist and rock climber. An all round sportsman.
In later years he lent his hand to organising the Mount Famine race and helping out at many others.
Always time for a chat and his legendary dry sense of humour, that was Mark.
Vinney Wathey 1958 - 2000
Vinney was one of the very early members of Pennine, and for his Stag Do in 1991 he devised what became known as 'Vinney's Race', which
George Scott resurrected as a Pennine Handicap, sometime after his passing. Although the route is no longer used as a handicap, some people
still use it as a tough training run, coming in at 9 miles and 3,300ft.
Vinney was also the instigator of the annual Pennine pilgrimage to Scotland for the Isle of Jura Fell race.
Dave Conway - 19 August 2004
Dave was an active member during the 1980s and died at the age of 48