Despite coming under some early pressure from local rivals Todmorden Harriers and Lancashire club Clayton Le Moors, the Ladies made a decisive break on leg four when the fleet-of-foot Anne Johnson and Jo Buckley overtook five teams to give Naomi Sharratt and Gayle Sugden a five minute lead which they extended further on the final leg.

Almost 100 braved the cold to compete in the annual race, which consists of five legs run in pairs in a clockwise circuit around the 47-mile Mary Towneley Loop. The race starts and finishes at Fearnley School in Waterfoot, Lancashire, and the loop includes a section of Calderdale countryside.

The initial leg starts at Waterfoot and climbs a total of 1350 feet over 8½ miles to Coal Clough Wind Farm. Leg 2 then takes runners through Widdop to Callis Bridge for a grueling 12 miles with 1550 feet of ascent. Runners hand over the baton to the next pair who climb through Mankinholes and Walsden en route to Summit, a total of 9½ miles with 1550 feet of climbing. Leg 4 is the shortest and fastest leg which takes competitors to Whitworth near Lobden Golf Club, a distance of 5½ miles with 750 feet of climbing.

The anchor leg then rises 1400 feet along Rooley Moor Road to the Top of Leach before the long descent to the finish, a total of 9½ miles. With temperatures plummeting over night, runners had to strike a balance between letting rip on the hard fast ground and exercising caution on some treacherous icy patches. Despite the hazards, those competing were rewarded with glorious sunshine and spectacular frosty views.

Unfortunately the men were unable to defend last year's title although they did finish with an excellent third spot behind very strong Horwich and Salford teams.

Ben Mounsey and Gav Mulholland got the team off to a flying start before handing over to Steve Smithies and Shaun Godsman in second place. Steve and Shaun put in a tremendous effort, but were overtaken by the two fastest men in the whole competition, Olympic marathon aspirant Andi Jones and mountain running supremo John Brown of Salford Harriers.

Calder's Seb Ramsay and Gary Webb took the baton for the third leg in third place and the team was able to hold that position for the rest of the race. Calder Valley was able to demonstrate its strength in depth fielding by two teams in each of the men's and ladies categories.

The Ladies B team also ran well to finish eighth ladies team with Barbara Lonsdale and Joanna Porter running strongly on the anchor leg.

Performance of the day may well have been from Calder Valley Men's B team which finished an excellent 18th with all of the pairs putting in top 20 performances on their respective legs.

Men's A: Ben Mounsey & Gav Mulholland: 55:23; Shaun Godsman & Steve Smithies: 1:23:36; Gary Webb & Seb Ramsay: 59:46; Chris Standish & Lee Shimwell: 40:04; Adam Breaks & Jason Stevens: 1:03:50.