Juniors show way for Valley

Several Calder Valley FR runners competed in The Stoop fell race near Haworth on Sunday, donning Santa hats for a 8km race.
William Hall who finished first in the U11 age category for CVFRWilliam Hall who finished first in the U11 age category for CVFR
William Hall who finished first in the U11 age category for CVFR

It really was bleak mid-winter for the 180 runners with swirling fog and pouring rain. The grounds of Stanbury Quarry and the surrounding Bronte Moors were as hard as iron and peppered with knee-deep ice-filled bogs.

The race was shortened for the first time since 2010 but there was plenty of good cheer amongst the runners, some in full fancy dress in the hope of winning a chocolate-filled stocking prize.

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Calder Valley’s Jo Buckley ran another impressive race, finishing as the club’s first lady and fifth V40 in 40 minutes and 26 seconds.

For most of the other Calder Valley racers, it became more about personal rivalries than podium finishes.

Paul Haigh and Stephen Smithies went head to head and on the way back down the hill Smithies overtook his team mate, who said he had “demonstrated how Bambi may have performed if given the chance.”

Smithies finished 45th in 38:55 and and Haigh came 55th in 40:09.

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Further down the course Lindsey Oldfield again out-performed Calvin Ferguson. The former’s uphill prowess enough proved enough to see off her rival, with Oldfield finishing sixth female in 41:08. Ferguson came 80th overall with a time of 41:49 and the gap between the two continues to narrow.

It was down to Calder Valley’s juniors to show the seniors how it should be done. The red and white hoops were all over the podiums.

There was a 1-2-3 for Valley in the boys’ under 13 category with William Hall first, and fourth overall, in 6:44. Alex Duffield was the second under 13 in 6:59 and James Duffy took third in 7:11.

In the under nine category, Sam Annison took first in his final race before moving up an age group in 2:46, and absolutely loved the race.

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Lucas Greenwood and Edvinas Adomavioius were second and third in the older age category while Harry Cliff, Edward Chrisanthou, and Ted Parker finished fourth, fifth and sixth in the boys under nines.

Finley Canning came in the top 15 among the under 11 boys.

A pack of Stainland Lions, undeterred by cold weather, headed to Keighley for the Gathering of Winter Fools Relay.

The event is an informal social run which uses public paths and roads in a circular route and is run over four legs.

A team consisting of Andrew Laird Boldy, Richard Crombie, Tanya Blake, Craig Miller, Damien Pearson, Tony Mott, Clayton Cutter and Andy Baird came in 11th overall. They were also the second open team, finishing in a cumulative time of 4:22:06.

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