Swindells breaks record to win women’s race at Calderdale Way

The gruelling race features a variety of terrain, from traversing open moorland, woodland trails, working farmland to canal sections and the odd road crossing but Swindells was up to the task, leading the women’s field home and claiming fourth in the open event.

She was followed by fellow Valley runner Sarah Noot, who claimed third spot in the women’s race, and Ben Costello who also had an excellent run in the open race, picking up fifth place.

There was more success for the club’s women at the Bunny Race Relays, where Charlotte Jackson, Susannah Richardson and Clara McKee topped the women’s team standings.

The event is a relay for teams of three, with each runner taking on a fast and furious short circuit of 1.6 miles around the old quarries at Penistone Hill.

Jackson and Richardson ran strongly to put Valley in second spot going into the final leg and McKee then delivered a top-notch run to take first place.

Calder’s men also made it onto the podium with George Kettlewell, Thomas McKee and Martin Howard securing second spot in the open event. Howard recorded the fastest leg of the day at 9 minutes, 10 seconds, but it wasn’t quite enough to secure top spot for the team.

More than 40 clubs competed in the prestigious Three Peaks Race that traverses the famous Yorkshire Dales mountains of Pen-y-ghent, Whernside and Ingleborough.

The 37.4 kilometre route comprises 1,608 metres of ascent and descent over the most rugged and spectacular countryside, taking competitors to a height of 723 metres above sea level.

A hardy field of more than 800 runners lined up at the start, with seven wearing the red and white Valley colours.

Adam Osborne and James Logue both completed the route in a sub-four-hour time, Osborne finishing in 56th place and Logue just seven minutes behind in 73rd place.

Virgil Barton, Andy Ford, Jonathan Emberton, Peter Wilcock and Jonny Croston made up the rest of the Valley contingent and the club clinched eighth position in the team event.

Wet and muddy conditions made the Junior English Championship races, held in the Duddon Valley, even tougher.

Under-15s runner Harry Cliff fell twice but that didn’t stop him coming back to place 15th in a time of 30:21.

Moving up to an older age category hasn’t stopped Clara McKee from continuing her winning streak and she took top spot in the U17s girls’ race in a time of 39:46, almost four minutes ahead of her nearest competitor.

Joe Stone had to race hard in the U17s boys race, placing fifth in a time of 39:30 while Ted Parker had a great result in taking 13th place in a time of 43:28.

In the very competitive U19s boys race Thomas McKee just missed a top-three place by 39 seconds, finishing fourth in 53:16 while Jayde McGregor took 12th girl in a time of 88:08.