Amongst many strong individual performances, podium places were achieved in their age categories by Natasha Butterfield (2nd WV40) and Stella Chrisanthou (3rd WV50).

Natasha and Stella were joined by CVFR women’s captain Cass Chisholm to form the winning WV40 team. Cass said: “Another amazing English Champs team performance from the women in both the senior and V40 categories. I really feel all our women have stepped their running up a level this season and are all crushing it.”

In the Open race, Martin Howard had his sights set on breaking into the top 10, and his result didn’t disappoint. He excelled on the technical and muddy terrain, earning himself 8th place in a time of 47:13.

The Open veterans were also in fine form, with strong individual results for Math Roberts (1st V40), Shaun Godsman (1st V50), Gavin Mulholland (2nd V50) and Adam Osborne (3rd V45).  These four secured first place in the V40 team standings, while Shaun, Gavin and Mark Burton also clinched V50 team victory.

CVFR Lad’s Leap results: Open

Pos	Name	Cat	Time
8th	Martin Howard	OSEN	47:13
25th	Andrew Worster	OSEN	50:11
27th	Math Roberts	V40	50:30
30th	Adam Osborne	V45	50:58
42nd	Ed Hyland	OSEN	52:08
44th	Gavin Roberts	OSEN	52:20
51st	Shaun Godsman	V50	52:56
61st	Gavin Mulholland	V50	53:47
95th	Mark Burton	V50	58:24
137th	Virgil Barton	V50	62:50

CVFR Lad’s Leap results: Women

Pos	Name	Cat	Time
23rd	Charlotte Jackson	WSEN	1:05:28
26th	Natasha Butterfield	WV40	1:05:56
33rd	Stella Chrisanthou	WV50	1:07:23
40th	Ambi Swindells	WSEN	1:08:36
45th	Cass Chrisholm	WV40	1:10:39
91st	Ailsa Nicholson	WV45	1:27:45

Valiant Valley Juniors storm Pendle race

Seven CVFR Juniors braved the onset of Storm Kathleen, heading to Barley in the foothills of Pendle for the latest counter in the junior club championships.

Superbly organised by Clayton le Moors, the races doubled as the Lancashire championship, which (to the delight of proud parent, and even prouder Yorkshireman Paul Haigh) gave some of the visiting Calder youth the added incentive of pinching podium spots from the county next door.

Paul’s “chip off the old block” Teddy Haigh (the family resemblance is certainly strong in terms of enthusiasm and energy levels) was first up in the U9 race. After a recent bout of illness, Teddy had declared he was going to “take the race easy”. That plan was quickly forgotten as he stormed uphill to lead the race at the top of the climb. Despite easing off the gas on the descent, Teddy glided down the hill into 3^rd place, just a few seconds behind the winner – and smiling all the way.

Next up were Jules Ciolino, Leo Wright and Alfie Hobday in the U11 race. Unfortunately the boys took the wrong line up the first hill and found themselves towards the back of the pack. Despite this mishap, they fought back to finish valiantly.

Special praise goes to Leo, who lost a few places on the final descent due to his shoe coming off. Leo ran back uphill to retrieve it, then managed to retake several places as he finished the descent – still shoeless on one foot as he held the errant footwear in his hand.

Next up were the U15s, where Joe Stone smiled all the way to a 2nd place finish, not far behind the winner, Ilkley’s Robert Carter. Also placing in the top 10, Harry Cliff showed that recently moving up an age group hasn’t phased him.

Not far behind, in 15^th, was Ted Parker, showing the fell running world what a decent set of young adults our Juniors are. Despite a family member straying onto the course on the final descent, Ted asked her very politely if she could move aside, adjusted his stride and didn’t let it put him off his finish.

As ever, all the juniors ran their hearts out, applauded loudly as their friends received their prizes and enjoyed a great day out in deepest Lancashire – reminding us again that Calder Valley’s future is bright.

Pendle Juniors CVFR results

Pos	Name	Cat	Time
3rd	Teddy Haigh	U9	3:54
32nd	Leo Wright	U11	6:18
36th	Jules Ciolino	U11	6:30
38th	Alfie Hobday	U11	6:37
2nd	Joseph Stone	U15	20:33
10th	Harry Cliff	U15	22:27
15th	Ted Parker	U15	23:15

Run, Rabbits, Run

As the evenings get lighter, the Bunny Run series marks the welcome return of midweek racing. Eight CVFR members made the pilgrimage to Haworth’s Penistone Hill for the first of these traditional springtime rituals. With a minimum age of just 12 to take part, the series provides a great opportunity for juniors and seniors to compete all together.

For youngsters Joe Stone, Ted Parker and Harry Cliff, the fast and furious 2.7-mile dash was a chance to test their legs out before the weekend’s junior club championship race at Pendle. They were joined by fellow U15 club-mate Ewan Edwards.

Adam Breaks was the first CVFR to finish, coming 19^th in 19:04, while Stephen Smithies’ time of 20:26 earned him the 1^st V50 prize. In the women’s race, Jayde McGregor was first back for the club, in 24:02.

CVFR Bunny Run 1 results

Pos	Name	Cat	Time
19th	Adam Breaks	V40	19:04
23rd	Joe Stone	U15	19:32
37th	Stephen Smithies	V50	20:26
65th	Ted Parker	U15	22:12
82nd	Ewan Edwards	U15	22:52
102nd	Jayde McGregor	W	24:02
103rd	Harry Cliff	U15	24:11
148th	Carole Fryer	WV50	27:00

Wardle skyline
On Saturday, new CVFR recruit Neil Thorpe raced at Wardle Skyline, joining club-mates Andy Collier, Stephen Smithies and Samantha Hartley.

Neil tells us about his experience as he embraces the joys and challenges of racing on the fells.

“I decided to enter the race despite the threat of strong winds and rain. I knew I wouldn’t be fast, and as only my second race since joining the club (and only my third race since last July) it was more about getting used to the fells and finding my pace again. 
 
Luckily for all of us running, the weather forecast wasn’t entirely accurate.  It was a fairly warm afternoon with no rain, and the winds were only intermittent rather than constant, so on the early climbs at least we were relieved of any extra hardships.  
 
Coming down off the tops was a different matter. The very strong side and front winds at times made my face look like I was experiencing high G-force pressures. Mix this with it being boggy underfoot and it made for a challenging, but fun, last three miles. 

I knew that I wasn’t going to be breaking any records, but for me it was about enjoying the outdoors, gaining more experience at racing on the fells and enjoying being around a bunch of like-minded people on a blustery April afternoon. 
 
I am looking forward to the rest of the year’s race calendar, as I look to continually improve (hopefully!) and race more and more for this great club I have joined.”

Wardle Skyline CVFR results

Pos	Name	Cat	Time
8th	Andy Collier	OSEN	55:11
16th	Stephen Smithies	V55	57:11
37th	Samantha Hartley	WSEN	68:52
65th	Neil Thorpe	V45	74:59

CALDER VALLEY NEWS REPORTER: James Cooke