Costello and Richardson gallop to success in Fairfield Horseshoe

A contingent of 23 Valley runners went in search of club points, taking on tough climbs and technical descents with the reward of some of the best views in the UK along the way.

Current FV40 British fell racing champion Susie Richardson had a storming run to claim second FV40 and fifth woman.

She said: “I had beef with Fairfield because I did it three years ago, blew up and had to walk the track of doom [a long stretch of track at the end of the race].

"I was determined to pace it right this year and managed to run in strong at the end to get second FV40, which I was very pleased with. It was amazing having such a big CVFR turnout.”

Relative newcomer to the club, Ben Costello was the first Valley runner to cross the line, continuing a streak of excellent top three performances in club rankings.

Oliver Beaumont found himself in a battle with team-mates Toby Sydes and Catherine Holden at the top of Fairfield but his excellent descending skills won through. He said “I had to push through the technical sections to get a gap on them, but it paid off. It was a great day out.”

First time Lakes runner Gemma Adams got round the route successfully despite suffering a fall on the ascent. Team-mate Emily King said: “She smashed it and other than dealing with her water bag leaking, she actually didn't stop or give in at any point. She was still cracking jokes even when we were getting to the very top.”

CVFR results: 45 Ben Costello 1:43:31, 75 Susannah Richardson 1:50:42, 88 Phil Wells 1:54:29, 99 Alice James 1:56:36, 120 Ian Dobie 1:59:17, 123 Luke Maleschko 1:59:44, 153 Oliver Beaumont 2:05:53, 157 Mark Wharton 2:06:36, 158 Toby Sydes 2:06:45, 159 Catherine Holden 2:06:58, 176 Emilia Wright 2:09:42, 202 James Cooke 2:14:00, 205 George Pidgeon 2:14:27, 212 Alex Whittem 2:15:43, 238 Eryn Barber 2:20:01, 265 Alex Snaith 2:25:13, 282 Rachel Johnston 2:29:33, 295 Ailsa Nicholson 2:35:13, 313 Francis Wooff 2:41:01, 324 Tamsin Cooke 3:00:15, 326 Ali Hayley 3:05:25, 328 Emily King 3:26:16, 329 Gemma Adams 3:34:37.

Elsewhere, there were magical performances from Stella Chrisanthou and Max Wilkinson at the category AL, Pendle Cloughs fell race.

Chrisanthou finished second in the women’s race and said: “Pendle Cloughs went really well. I kept the leading lady in my sights most of the way, partly by getting lucky with some good lines.

“It was hot though and I ran out of water so had to drink out of streams. I’m very happy with second lady and I knocked five minutes off my time from last year.”

Wilkinson, who crossed the line in seventh place, said: “It was brutal in the heat. I made some questionable navigational choices as a first-timer but I found all the controls with bit of help from the vets.”