Holly makes a splash at Haworth

THERE were wins for Calder Valley Fell Runners' Holly Page in the women's race and Harry Cliff and Emilia Wright among the club's juniors at Sunday's Soreen Stanbury Splash.
Holly PageHolly Page
Holly Page

The event, hosted by Wharfedale Harriers, attracted 93 juniors and 254 senior runners and took place in atrocious weather with competitors struggling to stay on their feet in driving rain and gusty winds.

Even the juniors’ quarry races at Haworth were affected, so much so that rising star Cliff opted to let the runner who eventually came second go in front of him, so he could shelter behind him until the final climb. At that point, Harry stormed ahead to win the under-nines race.

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Wright finished first under-15 girl and Ted Parker came an impressive 11th in his first race after moving up to the under-11 age category.

Sam Annison, who was aiming for a top-five finish, may have come seventh but this was despite losing a shoe in the false start, the other runners having misheard ‘no’ for ‘go’ and set off without him.

The 6.7-mile course for the senior race features 1200ft of climb and runners always finish wet and muddy after circuiting the upper Clough and Stanbury Moor.

Page demonstrated why she is one of Fast Running’s 10 to watch in the next 12 months by finishing 15th overall in under 55 minutes with Todmorden Harriers’ Annie Roberts next woman in 30th. Roberts was just one minute behind Page.

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Calder’s Jo Buckley finished in just over an hour and was second FV40.

Tod’s Robert Howarth clocked 67.51 for 112th position and Martin Roberts crossed the line in 74.22 for 171st place.

In the junior races, great runs were had by both Will Pollard and Delilah Swift, who finished in 40th and 44th place.

Queensbury at the Stanbury Splash: 38, Gary Rowling 56.58; 94, Carl Heron 65.30; 166, Chris King 74.03; 244, Andrew Smith 97.52.

More athletics reports and pictures in Friday’s ‘Halifax Courier’