Mytholmroyd Fell Race 2015 – Fell Championship Race 7

Hyde Park Harriers took to the fells of West Yorkshire once again, with a challenging race over in Mytholmroyd.  This was the toughest race in the championship so far.  Full FRA kit was required as a precaution against the winter conditions as 5 HPH-ers went head to head against some of Calderdales well established fell running club athletes.

The course runs 10km from Mytholmroyd, up to Midgley Moor, down in to Luddenden Valley, and back up and over the fell to the finish.

With a climb of 411m (almost 2 Chevins), the route looks like a daunting prospect from the valley bottom, and the first 2.5km involved a fair bit of walking/staggering in an attempt to get to the relative flatness of the moor.  Jimmy lead HPH up the first climb with ease, picking off runners on his way towards Hill House Farm, with Colin just behind until Heights Road.

A clear morning meant that the views at this point, over the mist covered valley, were pretty amazing.  However, once we passed Wicken Hill and started the run towards Crow Hill, we were faced with the challenge of trying to navigate over Midgely Moor.

Luckily the route was really well marked out (flags every 50m or so), which meant that Rebecca, Robin, Caroline, (and Rob)- who embarked on the least successful course reccie of the year, only a week before- could concentrate on speed and gracefully avoiding shin deep bogs.

Another long climb out from the Gate House at Castle Carr, was tough going, before a run over the moor and then joining up with leg 4 of the Calderdale Way Relay.

The final section of the race was 1.5km of fast, and slippery descent (200m of descent!) back down to Mytholmroyd.  With the HPH Ladies Fell Championship extremely close this year, Rebecca managed to get down the last hill just in front of Robin whose downhill prowess meant that the gap was closing all the way to the line.  This moves Rebecca to the top of the table with one race to go!

All the Hyde Park Harriers were rewarded for some excellent running at Mytholmroyd with a good selection of biscuits.  The first race this year where I’ve seen custard creams deployed on the tea stand.

One more race to go in the Championship…see you up in Hawarth for the Stanbury Splash in January!

Out of 83 finishers, HPH results below:

1 Neal Crampton MSEN Pudsey and Bramley    50.35

15 Colin Tranter MSEN Hyde Park Harriers  59.15
34 Jimmy Sheldon MSEN Hyde Park Harriers  65.15
68 Rebecca Rogers FSEN Hyde Park Harriers 75.23
69 Robin Culshaw FSEN Hyde Park Harriers 75.53
71 Caroline Young FSEN Hyde Park Harriers 77.10

Full Results on the Halifax Harriers website.

Photos c/o Woodentops

https://picasaweb.google.com/110439573756197443848/MytholmroydSet1
https://picasaweb.google.com/110439573756197443848/MytholmroydSet2