An even longer way round: Amy’s navigation issues turn the 36 mile route into a 40-miler

Amy (right) feeling optimistic about the race, before unexpectedly smashing her own predictions for her longest ever run

New Calder Valley member Amy Smith inadvertently created an unofficial “fourth option” to the Hike by adding a not insubstantial four miles onto her route, leaving her “absolutely exhausted” and “over the moon that it was over.” She added, “I was hoping to add an extra 4 miles to the furthest I’ve ever ran but ended up adding an additional 9 miles [to my previous furthest ever run] – so it was a great training run.” Amy stuck at it and completed the race, not only showing great tenacity but also putting her in strong contention for the much coveted “Nav cock-up of the year” award.

Promising start and podium finish for first time CVFR runner Jake Greenwood in the 26 mile “marathon Hike”

Jake, in the red and white stripes, finishes second in the 26 mile category of the Calderdale Hike in his first race for CVFR. Credit Woodentops

Meanwhile, Amy’s boyfriend Jake donned the red and white stripes for the first time and opted for the 26-mile Hike. Unlike Amy, he took a tried and tested route, kept to 26 miles and came a splendid second place overall.

First and second place for Valley Runners in the “Hike Fun Run”

The winning face of Mark tackling the 17 mile option of the Calderdale Hike. Credit Woodentops

By no means an easy option, the shortest race of the Hike saw Mark O’Connor and Will Rushworth take first and second place respectively. Whilst Mark jokingly said that he thought all the people who ran faster than him were on the 37 mile route this year, he also acknowledged he was spurred on by some healthy competition with Will: “I was looking over my shoulder every minute for Will as my legs were failing fast!” He also recounted an all too familiar fell tale, “I landed on top of thigh deep bog! Only one leg thankfully otherwise I may have been stuck.”

Determination wins out with second place for Will at the Calderdale Hike. Credit Woodentops

Will Rushworth came in second place, saying he didn’t quite have enough in the tank at the end to chase down Mark and lose the ten second gap between them. Despite describing the winds as “brutal,” he agreed with many others that this is a fantastic event – “a top race.”

Calderdale Hike Results

Clara leaps to first place at the Second Bunny Run Egg Stage

Clara on her way to Egg Stage win. Credit Woodentops

The second in the series of Bunny runs saw Clara McKee taking first place in the girls under 15 category, first place in the Egg Stage (the first smaller loop of the race) and second female overall in the entire race. Other juniors did eggstremely well too: Thomas McKee  managed second place in the BU17 category and Joe Stone was 2^nd in the BU15 category. It’s amazing how fast people will run over 2.7 miles and 300 feet just for a crème egg!

Bunny Run 2 Results

Virgil’s Victory at Llangollen Fell race

Achievements further afield came from Virgil Barton at the Welsh Champs 17 mile Llangollen fell race. Featuring 3000ft of climb, Virgil was 14th overall and 2nd OV50. Having run two English Champs races this year, Virgil hopes to race again on Wednesday if he can recover from this race in time. 

Martin’s moves make the team

Martin bounding along to get a Yorkshire Team call up.

Martin Howard’s hard work and subsequent successes at this year’s fell races has paid off with a place on the Yorkshire team for the Inter-counties Mountain Running Champs on Sunday 21st April in Keswick. Good luck to all our members representing their counties.

New course record at Cobbler Race set by Holly Page

Holly mud running but still manages to smash the women’s course record.

The Cobbler took place on Saturday 13 April in the Trossachs National Park, Scotland and is a counter for the 2024 Scottish Hill Running Championships. 660 meters of climb are packed into the 6km route and with the extreme weather Holly experiened, it was hard to tell whether it was April or December, “It was quite soggy! I wore my jacket throughout!” However the dire conditions and losing a couple of feet in the bogs didn’t stop Holly from smashing the course record, running it in under an hour with a time of 59:18.

CALDER VALLEY NEWS REPORTER: ailsa nicholson