This very sunny and warm evening the team provided standby rescue cover for the annual Hendersons End Fell Race, organised as ever by Lostock Athletics Club.

The route this year followed the new route first trialled last year, taking in the Old Kates Dingle track to the Pigeon Tower, along the edge of the Terraced Gardens, over Rivington Pike, Georges Lane to Pike Cottage, Two Lads and thence to Winter Hill summit, returning via the same points to the start and finish location in the vicinity of Rivington Hall Barn.

Some of our members initially met to depart our Ladybridge Hall Base / HQ at 18.30hrs, meeting up with other team members at Lower House Car Park, for onward deployment around the course in team vehicles, commencing at 19.00hrs.

Starting at 19.30hrs, this evenings race attracted eighty six runners, who all successfully finished the course by 20.56hrs.

In total we deployed twenty nine team call out list members to cover this event, all four of our Land Rover Mountain Rescue Ambulance vehicles, our Ford Transit minibus / Ambulance, and our Incident Control Vehicle from which our Team Leader Garry Rhodes MBE co-ordinated the control aspects of the event, situated at Lower House Car Park, Rivington.

Our Deputy Team Leader Chris Greenhalgh, liaised throughout the event directly with the race organisers at Rivington Hall Barn, accounting for all taking part.

Thankfully no incidents required the teams attention, other than a few plasters.

At the conclusion of the race, as part of his continuing training, our Trailing Search Dog Boris, successfully completed a short search trail with his handler Steve Nelson, laid out by team member Elaine Gilliland.

Our Trainee Air Scenting Mountain Rescue Search Dog Bella also attended tonight with her Handler Paul Chisholm.

The team would like to give thanks to Bowland Pennine MRT for allowing us the use of their Winter Hill Repeater radio channel which greatly facilitated our communications on this event.