Nabs, Sprint and Walls!!!

Up the Nab Fell Race

CVFR’s junior racers have returned to competition post-lockdown on fine form, with another excellent set of results, this time at the Up the Nab Fell Race at Glossop Rugby Club, in Charlesworth on Sunday, 13th June. 

As the second race in the English Junior championship & an under 15, under 17 & under 19 British Inter Counties event, the competition was steep. But yet again, Calder Valley’s Clara Mckee made it look easy. She stormed the 2.4km (150m climb) U13 girls’ race in 15 minutes 50 seconds – crossing the line nearly a whole minute ahead of the second-place runner.

Clara & Mani – photo credit Dave Woodhead

In the boys’ under 11’s category, it was the turn of newcomer Mani Kaler to take the win – at his first ever fell race. Kaler flew round the 1.6km (110m ascent) route in only 7 minutes and twenty-three seconds. Despite taking a tumble coming off the fell, he got up quickly & managed to hold onto first place, pipping his nearest competitors to the line by mere seconds. The youngster was delighted with his first race & a first win (no doubt of many), reporting finding it, ‘tough’, but still ‘loving it’!

Thomas descending after a great race result

In the U15 boys’ event, red & white-hooped Thomas McKee fought off some stiff competition to finish third in the 3.8km race, with its 220m of ascent in 26 minutes 12 seconds. Ollie Pickens ran well to finish 39th There were also a number of strong runs in other age categories from CVFR juniors. Ishbel Symington finished 7th in the 0.8km U9 girls’ race, completing the route in only 5 minutes 14 seconds. Joseph Stone and Ted Parker ran the U13 boys’ 2.4km race in 8:01 and 10:46 to finish in 13th & 25th place.

The U17 boys compete a 4.5km grueling route, complete with 290m of ascent. Here, CVFR’s Euan Logue, Elijah Peers-Webb & JD Anderson-Martin all ran solid races to finish in 15th, 19th & 24th in 32:25, 33:30 & 36:11 respectively.

And it wasn’t just the red & local Juniors in winning ways. In the Seniors’ competition, Pippa Barrett flew the red & white flag for Calder Valley & was the first female runner across the line, finishing the 5km race in 39:38, winning the female race by 40 seconds.

Read More

Long, hard, short and steep

Ennerdale

After missing a year of English Championship races, the country’s fell runners were raring to go at the Ennerdale Horseshoe last Saturday in the first Championship race of 2021.  It is not a light undertaking, covering 23 miles and 7500 feet of climbing.  Starting at the western end of Ennerdale, the route follows a circuit of the whole valley, taking in the hills of Great Bourne, Red Pike, skirting High Stile and Haystacks before climbing Green Gable and traversing under Great Gable crags.  The racers then face a climb of Kirk Fell, Pillar and Haycock before a prolonged downhill run taking in the tops of Iron Crag and Crag Hill.

The Calder Valley race train was in full flow as an amazing team effort saw Andy Worster, Math Roberts, Karl Gray, Andy Swift and Ben Mounsey finish 13th, 14th, 15th, 16th and 17th (all with 2 minutes of each other) to finish 1st open team in the English champs; whilst Karl Gray, James Logue and Phil Scarf lead the v50s to v50 English champs team points.

Individually King Karl started 2021 where he left 2020, continuing to break v50 records with an Ennerdale Fell race record v50 time of 3:51.05; Math Roberts finished 2nd v40 3.51.03 whilst Fiona Lynch showed the Ladies how it’s done winning FV45 in a time of 5.32.24.

Billy Cartwright of Matlock and Nicola Jackson of Keswick won the race in 3hours 32minutes 16 seconds and 4hours 13mins 59 seconds respectively.

Such was the effort amongst the team there wasn’t much talking from the normally larger than life Math Roberts at the finish line. He struggled with horrendous cramp but managed to hang on until the finish to help to score for the team.

Thanks to Cumberland Fellrunners for putting on a wonderful event. Sat there at prize giving with the sun beaming down, the camaraderie of fell runners and the legendary Joss Naylor giving out prizes, there was nowhere else anyone would rather be. It was great to be back.

Calder Valley Results

13th    Andrew Worster  – 03:50:52
14th    Matthew Roberts – 03:51:03
15th    Karl Gray  – 03:51:05
16th    Andy Swift – 03:52:35
17th    Ben Mounsey –  03:52:53
48th    Ed Hyland – 04:13:18
59th    Adam Osborne – 04:21:38
62nd    James Logue – 04:23:09
138th  Mark O’Connor – 05:06:06
160th  Phil Scarf – 05:21:11
167th  Michael Clayton -05:23:40
187th  Fiona Lynch – 05:32:24
200th  Stuart Russell – 05:39:10
205th  Ricky Parrish – 05:39:56
212th  Jonathan Emberton – 05:42:54
248th  Jackie Scarf – 06:11:39
254th  Toby Sydes – 06:16:24
255th  Mark Wharton – 06:17:36
278th  Jon Underwood – 06:47:05

Read More

Hot, Tired but Terrific!

West Nab Fell Race – English Junior Fell Championship 29/5/2021

Holmfirth Harriers did a fantastic job of hosting one of the four English Junior Fell Championship races that will go ahead in 2021 with competitions at U9 level increasing in two-yearly increments up to U19s. Race distances go up by age category with U9s running over 800m increasing to 8.1km for the U19s.

Calder Valley has a burgeoning junior section and despite limitations of the current pandemic was represented at U9, U11, U13, U15 and U17 age categories

West Nab was a great start to the year for the CVFR Juniors with some fast times and great finish positions for many of the young runners. The weather was superb – hot but manageable – and the terrain on and around Marsden Moor was dry in general but rocky in places.

The junior races were staggered with boys setting off first and girls three minutes later. All races had a good steady climb on the track up to Nab, across fields and down into Clough. Older age groups with extended race distances crossed the river to end with a steep, tough climb. The online registration process, staggered starts and orderly departure away from the finish line made for a well organised, safe event that went very smoothly.

There were some exceptional results amongst the juniors with Ishbel Symington and Lottie Cliff coming in 3rd and 4th respectively in the U9s. Harry Cliff won the U11s boys race against a strong field and led pretty much from the start. Clara McKee had it all to do in the u13s girls race having to pick past the back markers in the boys wave to claim victory in her age category.

At U13 level, Joseph Stone, Leo Hackett and Ted Parker all had good runs and at U15 level, CVFR was represented by Olivia Falkingbridge, Charlie Pickens, Thomas McKee and Ollie Pickens. The club was well represented at U17 level by Tom Owen, Euan Logue and James Aitken.

Thomas, Trudi and Clara modelling the new club vest

The Seniors were also in action on the day. James Logue came in overall 6th position with both Trudi Entwhistle and Helen Flage having good runs.

Read More

Cakes, BG and a whole lot more

Cake Race

Holly Page came in fourth overall in a strong field and was the first woman home completing the race in a time of 1hr 9mins. The Cake Race, organised by Saddleworth Runners, is a 10 mile blast over the rugged Saddleworth terrain taking in Marsden Moor along the way. Despite spending most of the race working out how to pass other runners on the narrow paths as the ‘wave’ format meant there were 160
plus runners ahead of her at the start, Holly really got her race legs moving and toppled the ladies course record which had stood for 15 years. Traditionally, the Cake Race is
accompanied by a ‘bake off’ at the end but current restrictions prevented this and
competitors had to tuck into the array of baked goods provided by the race organisers
instead. Another record and stunning run by Holly showing once again that women are
increasingly competing on equal terms with men on the fells.

Bob Graham Round

Another weekend and another Calder Valley member taking on a tough
endurance run. The Bob Graham Round is one of the three classic fell running ‘Rounds’ with members of the Bob Graham Club limited to anyone who can complete the classic round within 24 hours. Paul Haigh trained for 6 months for his Bob Graham attempt. Supported by a brilliant crew of runners and a food and drink team, he set off in near perfect conditions completing his round in an extraordinary 20 hours and 10 minutes qualifying for membership of the exclusive club. Paul’s BG is dedicated to a young woman, Phoebe, and he and his team did her memory proud completing the 66 miles, 42 peaks and 27,000 ft of climbing well within the 24-hour target set for the Bob Graham. Paul’s support team really pushed the envelope as they paced him over the Round. A great achievement and part of the brilliant club spirit at CVFR.

Read More