Stoop

Last Sunday saw the old and the young gather at the start line in Penistone Hill Country Park for a  5 mile circuit up and around the Stoop standing stone, a fell race organised by Wharfedale Harriers.

CV juniors excelled in their efforts too with young Harry Cliff securing 1st U9. Other CV youngsters included Ted Parker (U9), Thomas McKee, Olivia Falkingbridge and Fearne Hanson (all U 11s)

Harry Cliffe , U9 winner

Harry Cliffe U9 winner

Calder Valley out in force at the Withins Skyline

Withins Skyline – 68 mini fell runners took part in the Junior race, 18 from CV. In a tightly contested finish, CV’s young Harry Cliff won the U9s by less than 1 second with his team mates Joseph Stone and Leo Hackett finishing a few second behind him and securing 3rd and 4th place respectively.

Juniors: Joseph Stone,Harry Cliffe and Ted Parker (photo: Tara Stone)

The U11s saw 3 CV juniors all finishing in the top 10 with Thomas McKee finishing 5th, despite one of his shoes succumbing to the bogs and him running the course with just one shoe! Ollie Pickins came in 6th and Sam Annison 8th. Charlie Pickins was 1st U13 home, with Tom Owen, Leo Illstone and Fearne Hanson all finishing in the top 10.

CV’s Alex Duffield was 2nd U15 with team mates Addison Willis, Elija Paec-Webb, Maya Brunt and Emilia Wright also all finishing in the top 10.

 

A bumper bank holiday

Burnsall Classic Fell Race.

With many of the juniors away on summer holidays, it was down to Ted Parker to fly the flag for the younger Red & White hoops in Burnsall, which he did in style, coming 10th in the U10s with a solid time of 5 :14 for the race.

Ted Parker – credit Dave Woodhead

 

Cowling Gala

Young Harry Cliff raced at Cowling Gala on Saturday, achieving 2nd place, just 1 second behind the winner, after getting stuck at a massive bottle neck at a wall. Said proud mum Rachel:

Harry Cliff at Cowling Gala (courtesy of Dave Woodhead).

‘He’s really loving racing and is rarely out of his CVFR hoodie. I’m looking forward to him having to wear school uniform next year to give it some respite!’

Will goes the distance at KWL

Fewer of the CVFR juniors were out this last week, although between them, they covered a number of races. On Saturday, 7th April, at the Pendle Fell Race, CVFR, Fred Slater was the only under 9 runner and Fearnie Hanson the only U13, coming in a respectable 22nd and 38th (17th girl) in their respective races, with both gaining invaluable race experience for the future. Amongst the older juniors, Alex Duffield put in another strong run, coming in 10th in the U15s, in his second race of the week.

William Hall was the only junior hoop to head to the final KWL race at Elterwater – a 1.6km with 200m of climbing and plenty of grass, rocks and bogs thrown in for good measure. Will raced strongly, placing second in the U15 category – a mere 15 seconds behind the race (and overall U15 league) winner Ollie Sanders of Helm Hill. Whilst official results had yet to be confirmed at time of print, it is looking like Will has tied for second place overall, a result that is all the more amazing, considering he only moved up from U13’s in the past year.

Tuesday 3rd April also saw the second of three Easter Bunny Runs – with this year’s fun organised for the first time by Wharfedale Harriers, following the retirement of fell-race organising legends, Dave & Eileen ‘Woodentops’ Woodhead. With points meaning chocolate prizes galore, these races are a firm favourite amongst junior runners (12+), with all runners getting a free cream egg and the chance to improve on their previous week’s results.

Elijah Peers-Web running long lap race (credit Dave Woodhead)

James Duffy was the first CVFR runner to finish, placing a solid 5th in his first year in the U15 category. Fellow CVFR U15s, Alex Duffield and Elijah Peers-Web also ran good races. Alex was just pipped for 10th U15 place by 7 seconds (finishing 64th overall) and Elijah Peers-Web came in 12th U15 (76 overall).  

James Duffy (credit Mick Fryer)

– Calder Valley News Reporter:Catherine Jones