Flower Scar fun

Hosted again by Todmorden Harriers after a three-year break, Flower Scar proved a popular race despite the atrocious weather that had gripped the entire country for the past two weeks. Coming on the back of Storms Dudley and Eunice, the organisers braved the wind and rain on Friday to fully flag the course, a welcome blessing for the runners in what proved to be really challenging conditions.

Flower Scar is one of those great mini running festivals where there is a take-over of Centre Vale Park as Junior races are run throughout the morning followed by a soggy start to the Senior race as the Juniors were finishing up.

The Winning U13s team

Perhaps because of the weather or because this year’s race coincided with half term, there was a smaller contingent of juniors than in previous years but still plenty to create some real competition across a number of age ranges. With course distances increasing through the age bands from U9s up to an U17/U19 category, Calder Valley Juniors were well represented from U13s up to U17s. The clubs U13s Boys secured all top three places with a winning performance by Joseph Stone in 11m 46s followed by Archie Cole in 2nd, Mani Kaler in 3rd and Ted Parker in 5th. In the smaller U15s group, Wynn Standish put in a great performance to come in second against a very strong run by Chorley’s Henry Ward and at U17 level, Charlie Pickens took a fantastic first place, in a very fast time given the conditions.

A great performance by all the juniors who braved the rain, sleet and mud on the day.

– CALDER VALLEY NEWS REPORTER: MARC COLLETT