Calder Valley Fell Runners’ Karl Gray marked his move into the MV55 category with a gold medal at the Stùc a' Chroin race, in Scotland’s Loch Lomond and Trossachs National Park.

The event represents the long race in this year’s UK Athletics Fell and Hill Running Championships, better known as the British Championships, which also has one short race in its calendar, and Gray continued the form he showed last year when he was crowned open MV50 British champion.

The 12.5-mile route offers runners a combination of breath-taking panoramas and a brutal test of endurance as it climbs 5,000 feet over the summits of Ben Each and the Stùc a’ Chroin. Some sources translate this name as ‘peak of danger’, giving competitors a small clue as to what to expect.

But Gray dug in and completed the tough course in 2:28:05 to claim a convincing win over the competition and add another gold medal to his sizeable collection.

Karl Gray scooped a gold medal at Stùc a Chroin. Pic: Mark Johnston

There was more podium success for the club when Gavin Mulholland, competing as an MV50, was the first Calder runner across the finish line, clocking 2:21:24 to secure a silver medal in his age category.

Stella Chrisanthou put in an impressive effort as Valley’s only female representative on the day. A finish time of 3:22:13 placed her fourth in the FV50 ranks.

CVFR results: 36 Gavin Mulholland 2:21:42, 53 Karl Gray 2:28:05, 143 Mark Taylor 2:56:51, 185 Virgil Barton 3:09:53, 224 Stella Chrisanthou 3:22:13, 300 Stephen Smithies 3:56:15.

Closer to home, eight Valley runners turned out on a hot Tuesday evening for low-key local classic, the Orchan Rocks fell race.

The short, sharp blast from the Staff of Life pub on the edge of Todmorden earns its category ‘A’ status by virtue of two steep ascents compressed into just 3.4 miles.

Recent footpath improvements have consigned to history the much-loved boggy patch that traditionally enlivened one of the course’s few flat sections. Combined with the generally dry conditions, this meant some fast times were expected.

A regular at this event, Calder’s Alex Whittem started out strong but lost some ground to his rivals after tripping up as he leapt over a stile. Despite this set-back, he finished as first MV40 and fifth overall, in a time of 24:49. Next back for the club was Max Wilkinson in 25:40.

Todmorden resident Samantha Hartley crossed the line in 43:08 and claimed the honour of ‘first local woman’. Joining her on the Valley women’s team were Amanda Farrell, making a welcome return to racing, and Tamsin Cooke.

CVFR results: 5 Alex Whittem 24:49, 9 Max Wilkinson 25:40, 20 James Cooke 29:35, 32 Andy Davies 31:44, 43 Samantha Hartley 34:08, 48 Graham Lloyd 35:25, 58 Amanda Farrell 39:12, 66 Tamsin Cooke 43:53.

Valley's Gray strikes gold in British Championships race