Joe and Jasmin take 3 Peaks titles back to Scotland...
Joe and Jasmin - Three Peaks champions 2013!
HBT and Carnethy runners Joe Symonds and Jasmin Paris showed why they are considered amongst the best fell runners in the UK on Saturday as they convincingly won the 2013 Three Peaks Race titles…
For Joe is was a virtual repeat of his 2012 win, only this time the Salomon athlete took the race on even earlier, winning by over 5 minutes after taking the lead from the gun and never really looking back taking the race in 2:54:39. Behind Symonds there was a titanic battle for the places.
Joe Symonds coming off Pen y Ghent
Carl Bell, Karl Gray, Tofol Castanyer, Andy Fallas, Oli Johnson and Three Peaks legend Rob Jebb swapped positions for much of the race. However, as Jebb looked clear in second leaving Hill Inn and heading up Ingleborough, it was Bell and Gray who rallied to take to two remaining podium places after a big descents off Ingleborough, sweeping past Jebby.
Rob Jebb
Carl Bell leads Karl Gray on the run in to Horton
By the time the Keswick and Calder Valley runners reached the field in Horton, Bell had a slender lead over Gray to take an excellent second place in 2:59:44 vs Gray’s 2:59:50. Consolation for Gray lay in the fact that he had once again broken the V40 record and the 3 hour barrier with it.
Rob Jebb finished 4th, with Carnethy man Fallas finishing a very good 5th.
Jasmin Paris is beginning to emerge as the woman to beat in the UK these days, with some impressive wins in 2012, and now perhaps her biggest win of all in Yorkshire. Her win (in her very first 3P race) was very different from Symonds’, only taking the lead on the descent from the last peak of Ingleborough by overtaking Spain’s Oihana Kortazar, who had led for the previous 20 miles of this 23 mile race.
A smiling Jasmin Paris coming off Ingleborough
Leaving Hill Inn less than 30 seconds behind Kortazar, Paris showed her strength and descending skills as she swept past Oihana on the run-in (who herself suffered a nasty fall), winning in 3:33:04. Kortazar held onto second in 3:36:29, with Paris’ Carnethy team mate Helen Bonsor taking third with 3:39:07.
Oihana Kortazar
Speaking on the microphone immediately after the race, a fresh-looking Symonds said:
“After only running the Rotterdam Marathon two weeks ago and not having raced on the mountains since last year, I didn’t quite know how it would go today. Luckily I felt strong from the start and seemed to get into my running on hills well up Pen y Ghent. We were pretty quick up there today, in under 29 mins, and Tofol was not too far behind.
“From there though I was on my own all the way back to Horton, and had to concentrate hard as I was running alone and not too sure what was going on behind. Compared to last year I was in better shape mentally and physically during the race. Last year I struggled over the last few miles, but today felt really strong and now (post race) feel pretty good and not as tired as 2012.
Joe Symonds
“It was a great day once again and I think this race is addictive! My dad won it three times, so I will be back again to see if I can make it three next year and no doubt will be racing here for many years to come!”
A nice race report from Brian Dooks can be found here, with full results via the Sport Ident site here. Lots of images around the net now online and as ever some of the better ones are via Sport Sunday and Woodentops.
