Ilkley 08
Calder Valley Juniors Fell runners turned out in force on the 24th Feb for the ever popular Ilkley Fell race, having been inspired at the clubs presentation evening the day before. The trail to glory and trophies for 2008 began well despite the weather doing its best to dampen the runners spirits with a constant heavy drizzle the red and white hoops were in fine form.
Running in her first race young Gemma Johnson was the clubs only representative in the U8 category finishing in an excellent time of 5.03mins for the half mile muddy course which meant she finished in 5th position.
Last year the U10 age group was the most fiercely contested category but with many of the runners having stepped up to U12 this year it left the group wide open. Luka Morris runner up last year set his stall out strongly to go one better this year by coming home first for the Calder club and second place in the race overall but he didn’t have it all his own way as Jude Corcos, William Jennings Silas Page and Adam Johnson all ran well. Molly Chesworth was the first girl back for Calder Valley followed by another debutant Jade Harvey.
It will be the U12 races that will be the closest fought championship this year if the Ilkley results are anything to go by. Max Wharton brought the runners home with a typically forceful run to finish in an excellent 2nd place in 8mins exactly beaten only by a Bingley runner who broke the course record to beat him. Euan Davies raced home for 6th place overall just 16 secs behind followed by Nial Oxley and Finlay King tied for 8th Edan Whitelaw 11th Ryan Mcalpine 12th and Jamie Gwilliam a few seconds back in 15th. All of them produced improved times from last years race which was an excellent performance considering that the mile long course containing two tough climbs was extremely wet and boggy underfoot which did not make for fast running conditions. Having stepped up to U12 this year Issy Wharton could not repeat last years feat of breaking the course record this year, but having shown the most improvement of all the Calder runners she surely poses a real threat to the record next year and is likely to improve on this years 4th place. Further down the field making her first appearance in a Calder vest Hannah Fillingham ran really well to finish in 15th place.
Jack Paige once again lead the runners home in the U14 race finishing in a very creditable 5th place followed by Jamie Davies in 7th and Thomas Jennings making his long awaited debut ran a great race to come home close behind in 9th position. Siarlot Lloyd running in the girls race found the going tough but did well to finish in 24th place.
There are now 9 races left in the championship series with the next one not being until April when runners will hopefully be making the longer trip to the Lake District to race over the tough course that is the Anniversary Wa! Race in Newlands Valley. This is also the first race in the National competition run by the Fell Running Association. It will attract the best junior runners from all over the country and Calder Valley will be there holding their own and enjoying themselves at the same time.
Ilkley Moor Fell Race 2008
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