Impressive medal haul for Valley at Kettlewell race

The five-mile event was the the latest English Championships counter and the club celebrated team gold in the women’s V40, men’s V40 and men’s V50 categories, as well as an individual MV55 gold for Karl Gray.

Martin Howard finished in fantastic seventh place overall while in the women’s race, Susie Richardson put in a standout performance, taking second place in both the F40 and F45 categories. She was joined by Cass Chisholm and Stella Chrisanthou in the winning FV40 team.

Gavin Mulholland was second MV50 and teamed-up with Gray and Shaun Godsman to form the winning MV50 team. Together with Adam Osborne and Ben Mounsey, Mulholland and Godsman also shared in MV40 team glory.

The younger ranks of the club are also making an impact. Assisted by Martin Howard’s top ten result, Valley achieved third place in the men’s open team rankings, while the women’s open team of Susie Richardson, Charlotte Jackson and Alice James finished fourth.

Elsewhere, Valley junior runners proudly wore their Yorkshire colours at the Clougha Pike races, an event in this year’s Junior Club Championships, as well as hosting both the Junior English Championships and the Junior Inter-counties.

Clara McKee blitzed the 5k U17s course in 28:22 to claim an individual gold and help the Yorkshire U17s girls claim silver in the team results.

Clara’s brother Tom, fresh from racing for England at the International Mountain Running Cup in Slovakia last week, finished in fourth place individually and as a counter on the gold medal winning Yorkshire U19s team.

Also making his county debut for Yorkshire was Harry Cliff in the U15s race and he ran the 3.7k in 19:19 to finish in 37th place.

The younger age groups also saw some spirited performances and new Valley member Eleanor Pinder showed true grit, battling on to complete the U13s race despite feeling ill.

Three Calder Valley boys lined up in the U11s race and Frank Lowe crossed the line in eighth, followed by Louie Collins in 19th and Rory Bradley 28th.

The youngest runner in action was rising star Isla Collins, who finished the U9s race as third girl and 11th overall.

Meanwhile, Andy Collier took third place at Brown Wardle (And A Bit Moor), a short midweek dash around the outskirts of Rochdale. He completed the 3.3 miles with nearly 1,200 feet of ascent in 30:18. Francis Wooff also raced, finishing in 26th place.

Jayde McGregor successfully navigated the twists and turns of the Ogden Midsummer Madness to finish in 46:34.Adam Breaks made it out of the labyrinth in 31 minutes, taking seventh place overall and winning the MV40 category.