Spine tingling successes

Calder Valley Fell Runners – 22 January 2024

Calder Valley runners celebrate all the fun of the fells and enjoy a strong start to the year in races across the UK

From racing in West Yorkshire and beyond, to Spine bothering Dougie, the ultra-legend, and partying at the CVFR Awards presentation CVFR have successfully turned the January winter blues red and white by taking on races country wide. This included the UK’s most brutal ultra race and enjoying success in other fell races. The week culminated in a fabulous celebration of all that’s great about CVFR with the awards presentation evening at Vocation in Halifax: the winners, adventurers, wallys and nav cock-ups of 2023 were celebrated fondly and proceedings were washed down with lashings of booze, pizza, friendship and frivolity on Saturday evening – a lot of time was spent together this weekend!

Club members celebrate the achievements of 2023 at Vocation in Halifax. Credit George Kettlewell and Marc Collett

Dougie digs deep for fourth place at The Spine

Following the exceptional runs by CVFR members Paul Haigh, Oliver Beaumont and Paul Taylor at Britain’s most brutal “fun runs,” the Spine Challengers, CVFR ultra legend Dougie Zinis completed longest of the Spine winter series races: The Spine.

Dougie Zinis completes the Spine. Credit Wild Aperture Photography

This endurance event offers 268 miles of non-stop, expedition style racing along the Pennine Way and attracts many big names from the ultra running world. This year was exceptional and saw a strong field of runners smash previous finish times by over ten hours. Known as a Spine legend far and wide, CVFR member Dougie Zinis maintained a strong sense of purpose throughout the race, climbed 14,579 meters of ascent and achieved a finish time of 87:48:47, taking fourth place. Of his achievement Dougie commented afterwards, “Over a 9 hour personal best in a line-up that made me think top ten would be good. I’m one happy man.”

Marc Collett pips all the runners to the pike in his first ever win

In his first ever win at any running race, Marc Collett took first prize at the winter handicap on Saturday 20 January. The lure of storm conditions, 50mph winds and a potent mixture of ice, snow, partially thawed bogs and horizontal rain ensured a high turnout for the annual club winter handicap: a 5 mile dash to Stoodley Pike and back.

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The Spinal Countdown

Calder Valley Fell Runners – 16 January 2024

It’s mid-January, everyone’s favourite time of year to pick two far-flung points somewhere in the Pennines and navigate between them across hill, bog and ice.

Perhaps you’d choose the 21-mile Trigger race, crossing the Peak District from Marsden to Edale? Or maybe to really stretch your legs, the 108-mile Spine Challenger South? Read on to discover how various CVFR adventurers got on in each of these events.

Still too easy? There’s always the full 268-mile Spine Race, where at the time of writing Dougie Zinis is pressing on amid rapidly deteriorating weather conditions – look out for news of his progress in next week’s report.

Spine Challenger South

The Spine Challenger South is a non-stop, 108 mile race along the Pennine Way. Competitors have a time limit of 60 hours to get from Edale in the Peak District to the finish at Hawes in the Yorkshire Dales. The challenging and technical route is physically and psychologically demanding, not least when attempted in the depths of winter with only 8 hours per day of daylight, and carrying around 7kg of kit.

CVFR’s Paul Haigh, Paul Taylor and Oliver Beaumont all completed this year’s event.

Paul Haigh is becoming something of a specialist in 100-mile ultras, having completed the Lakeland 100 last summer. He went into the Spine Challenger event feeling strong off the back of a rigorous winter training regime, and his efforts were rewarded with a podium finish, taking joint third place in a time of 29 hours, 51 minutes.

Paul spills the secrets of his success:

“I knew if I could set a fast pace at the start and just keep my rhythm going, I should be able to hold my own. The weather was practically perfect. The ground had dried out and the sharp frosty nights had frozen whatever bogs remained. The course was very runnable. So obviously I set off like a house on fire – I couldn’t help it!

A lovely guy on the start line called Jamie Pond told me how fast he could go. So I zoomed up Kinder and had a lovely run to myself all the way to the first road crossing, about an hour in. That was when Jamie and Daniel Weller, the eventual winner, caught me up. The pace Daniel was moving at, I made an instant decision to let him go – it was either that or ending up face first in a bog. If Jamie thought otherwise, losing a shoe to a bog quickly changed his mind. And that’s how it stayed for the next 28 hours. Just the two of us running along paving slabs, tip-toeing through bogs and cursing our feet.

Running through Calder Valley was amazing – thank you everyone who lined the way. It meant the world to me and definitely spurred me on.”

Paul Haigh keeps up the pace on the Spine

The Spine event includes a dedicated category for Mountain Rescue teams. Paul Taylor (a member of both CVFR and Calder Valley Search & Rescue Team) finally gave in to a long-held ambition to take on this challenge, and recounted his exploits:

“Conditions were nigh on perfect – a little cold, a bit of fog, a flurry of snow and a thin frost glazing the route with adventure. I finished in 34 hours, 27 minutes, far surpassing my greatest expectations – 2nd in the Mountain Rescue Team category and 17th overall. I realised that I was within 3mph average speed along the entire route, way quicker than I had thought might be possible for me.

The last leg from Horton to Hawes was a case of self-administered first aid, managing the pain game. Blistered soles bruised feet all masking a sprained ankle. Torture? Pah! Brutal? That just about sums it up. All sparking from the urge to get it done, who knows why?

I had numerous supporters, ‘dot-watching’ the tracker or cheering from the hillside. Their faces in the fog, icy sunlight or in pitch darkness are now forever etched in my memory of it all.”

Paul Taylor contemplates the miles ahead from Pen-y-Ghent

Alongside their running endeavours, both Pauls have used the event to raise huge sums for charities close to their hearts. Paul Haigh is fundraising for Abbie’s Army and Paul Taylor for Calder Valley Search & Rescue.

Oly running strong through the night

After getting a taste for Spine racing in last year’s 46-mile ‘Sprint’, Oliver Beaumont’s ultra running continues to go from strength to strength. Upgrading to the Challenger South event this year, Oly finished in 39 hours, 58 minutes.

Trigger   

A linear race of 21 miles with around 5,400 feet of climbing, the Trigger requires runners to navigate from Marsden to Edale, visiting the three trig points of Black Hill, Bleaklow and Kinder. 

Well aware of the race’s fearsome reputation, CVFR’s Catherine Holden, Stella Chrisanthou and Francis Wooff were prepared for the worst – but in the end, Sunday’s dazzling sunlight was the most surprising weather hazard they faced.

CVFR’s Trigger-happy trio

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No Christmas hangovers as Howard takes Giant bite out of Tooth record

Calder Valley Fell Runners – 1 January 2024

Jingle Fells

As the mean-spirited, miserly old miserable winter takes hold, Christmas bustles in with plenty of running cheer up on the fells. Runners don flamboyant seasonal outfits normally reserved for parties around roasting fires and head out into the storm. This revelry provides hallucinogenic fun for any unsuspecting folk walking off over indulgence. Famous and the flagship of Christmas ‘funning’ Auld Lang Syne rightly made it in to the Guardian Newspaper this year.

Ailsa, George, Cass and Tamsin in fancy dress. Credit Woodentops

Wilkinson’s Whinberry Wonderland 

The first post prandial run is at Whinberry Naze with lots of ‘Christmas dinner’ themed fancy dress outfits trotting around Rawtenstall amidst the ‘wild ponies’ on Boxing Day. Max Wilkinson set the pudding alight completing the course in a flaming 27.19 and finishing 10th over all. Stephen Smithies obviously avoided second helpings home in 21st a few minutes later. Cooking on gas mark 9 were the Cookes either side of Christmas fairy Helen Buchan with Peter Heywood sliding in under the hour. Runners were rewarded by Santa stopping off on his busy schedule to hand out smarties at the top of the hill.

Max enjoying the festivities at Whinberry. Credit Stephen Fish

Results:

10th Max Wilkinson M 27.19
21st Stephen Smithies MV55 30.16
45th Jim Cooke MV40 32.56
77th Helen Buchan FV45 35.22
141st Tamsin Cooke FV40 44.33
179th Pete Heywood MV55 56.54

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Max’s Silent Night

Calder Valley Fell Runners  – 25 December 2023

Silent Night running: Max Wilkinson follows the light to secure his second 3rd place victory of the week

Whilst most of the fell running world paused for Christmas, club newcomer Max took one for the CVFR team on Monday 18 December, being the only racer this side of Christmas and coming third in the Silent Night Fell Race in Co. Durham.

Think like a moth

With no flagging and only the distant glow of the occasional head torch, Silent Night is a demanding night-time race. Max sheds light on his epic adventure below:

Billed as the ‘dark festive cousin’ of the Chapelfell Top race in Weardale Co. Durham (featured in the English Champs this year), Silent Night is organised by Durham Fell Runners. The route is identical to the summer edition as an out and back to the summit of Chapelfell at 703 m elevation from the village of St. John’s Chapel (6.6km, 370m), with the crucial difference of being run after dark in mid-winter. The route isn’t flagged at any point and the second half is on open fell with very much a DIY approach to finding the summit, defined by a very small cairn on a broad top with a network of eroded peat haggs – especially tricky to navigate to in the clag and the dark.

‘Don’t die’ pre-race briefing from RD Andy Blackett!

I’ve run this race 4 times now and numerous reccies at night and there’s always a bit of doubt about finding the summit cairn. I’ve never failed on race day but I have aborted on two separate reccies only to review my GPS trace and find I’ve been within 20 metres off the summit. The kit list is extensive for a short out and back – full FRA kit, plus: extra headtorch, extra tights and warm baselayer in a drybag, emergency foil bag, mobile phone with race director number. Navigation is by map and compass, no GPS. 13 runners turned up to start. We had a stern briefing by race diretor Andy Blackett of Durham Fell Runners – essentially, this is a nerve-wracking race for the RD – “you’ve all been vetted prior to entry and should have all your kit, but it’s sound mountain judgement that’ll keep you safe, so please make sensible choices”. Well said and fair enough! Conditions were mild, breezy with some clag forecast on the top. On to the race start, which was announced simply as ‘go’!

I headed out in 3rd place on the rocky climb out of the village behind Durham Fell Runners local Chris Alborough and teammate John Woodhouse. Both very strong runners, Chris knows this fell like the back of his hand (or at least he should, living just down the road.) John is coming back from a calf injury and a bit of an unknown here. They both paired up on the climb and I worked hard to keep them just ahead in the headtorch beam. My plan was to make things as easy for myself as possible by following Chris step for step – he knew the most efficient line up the rocky and boggy path on to the fell, swapping from one side to the other to find the best running, so I stuck to his line and that made me good time. Then through the gate about 15 seconds behind Chris and John and out on to the open fell where the fun really starts!

I hadn’t run the English Champs race in summer, or reccied the route after this race, but had heard there was now a direct and well-defined trod. In previous years I’ve stuck to a quad track to make the first half of the fell climb, but Chris and John had headed on what felt like a direct bearing to the summit, through the rushes and sphagnum, so I had faith in their decision and pressed on and this paid off. I cut through to a bit of a trod, clearly having grown back from the English Champs, this took me direct for the first half of the climb across featureless fell to my second marker, a wall corner. From here I followed another trod about 60 seconds behind Chris and John now, still running as a pair. I pressed on hard to keep them in sight, now a small pool of light ahead. I climbed further and hit a few small features in memory from last years’ race – a collection of small boulders and a trod up the side of a peat hagg. That was the climb mostly out of the way, Chris and John had now disappeared over the crest of the hill but weren’t far ahead. But now on to the crucial bit, finding the summit cairn, this is such a short and fast race that doing any proper map and compass work will put you out of the running, so it was very much pigeon-sense navigation. I knew there’d be a marshal on the summit cairn, with a headtorch, so I dipped my own lamp and focussed on the dark horizon ahead to spot any slight glow of light. The first I spotted was over to my left, clearly not at the top of the hill. I couldn’t possibly be another runner that far over at this point in the race, so I chose to ignore it (turns out it was one of the marshals still on their way up to the summit!) and pushed on in the general direction of the ‘top.’

The going got really sloppy as I crossed in and out of peak haggs, then I spotted a dim glow and soon after two headtorches coming the other way – must be the summit and Chris and John coming back. I headed over and was relieved to find Rory Woods at the summit cairn and exchange a quick grunt of encouragement with Chris and John as they passed me to make the descent – turns out that Rory had to ditch his pack on the climb and sprint to make the summit just seconds before Chris and John arrived!

Having made the summit in a thin swirl of clag I made a 180 and headed back down the way I came. This is the second tricky part of the race, descending at speed over rough fell in the dark and trying to stay on course for a direct line back to the wall corner. Chris and John had disappeared, but there was now a stream of headtorches from runners on the climb, so it was easy enough to backtrack for part of the descent. I lost the trod just before the wall corner and made a small error that cost me 15-20 seconds, but I was relieved to be back at a well-known point and still running well in third place, although I could sense others were on the descent some way up the slope behind me. I hit the quad track and found the line on to the direct English Champs trod and was running strong on the slower part of the descent, then through the gate and back on to the track. This is the bit where I’ve always lost time in the past, not having the quick leg turnover to keep pace on the harder surface, but since I’ve been doing loads of road running at CVFR on a Tuesday night I found I had a better pace here and descended well.

There were a few oh s**t moments on slimy grass and rocks, but I careered on down mostly in control. A headlight up ahead and I could see from the running style it was John and I closed in further towards the final run in to the finish, 27 seconds behind John to take my second third place of the weekend and a massive PB by over 7 minutes (only just short of my current PB in the summer edition of the race). A decent result, clearly all that road running is paying off, hate to say that as a fell runner! Chris came first with a storming run another 2-half minutes ahead of John, he must have pulled away strong on the descent.

A huge pile of mince pies and mulled wine were waiting at the finish and was good fun cheering the rest of the field back in. We headed to The Golden Lion, well placed meters from the finish for a Christmas pint. Plenty of chat about safety procedures in fell races and how different it is racing at night and how few night fell races there are, in fact ‘Mr Sparkles Dark-un’* was the only other night race we could name at the time. Racing at night makes for such a different challenge, I wouldn’t want to do every race like this but it’s a great experience.

*If you fancy trying a night fell race Mr Sparkle’s Dark ‘un happens to be the first CVFR club champs short race of 2024!

On behalf of the CVFR press team we hope you have a wonderful festive time, whether you’re having a good rest for a winning 2024 full of adventures, partaking in some of the festive fell races or simply getting out and enjoying the moors.

CALDER VALLEY NEWS REPORTER: ailsa nicholson