Cragg Fell Race

Cragg Fell Race raises over £600!!

On the last Wednesday in June, Cragg church played host to over 100 fell runners and their families plus nearly 40 Junior runners.  

104 runners started beside Cragg Church, running along the side of Cragg Brook, up onto the side of Erringdon Moor, along Dick’s Lane and back down through Sunderland Pasture to the old Cragg  Gatehouse: a mere 4 miles! The big crowd at the finish didn’t last long, as the midges descended en masse, driving everyone back into Cragg church where scrumptious refreshments provided by a tean from church, Cragg Vale Bitter [Little Valley Brewery sponsored the race] and stalls kept everyone happy. This race is a real village effort with Cragg residents marshalling, flagging, running, registering and organising the refreshments. It all makes for a great social event too.

The top 6 places of the adult race were clogged with U16 and U18 runners – the boys literally swept the field with U18 Jack Ross travelling all the way from Stoke on Trent to claim victory in 27.24. An outstanding run!

Anne Johnson of Calder valley Fell Runners, showing a great return to form, finished 1st lady in 34.55. Incidentally, if anyone wants to join CVFR, then come along to Mytholmroyd Community Centre on Tues nights 7pm [check the website] and we’ll find a group for you to run with.

Our 2 church wardens, Geraint Harris and Ed Talbot both completed the race. In fact they have completed many Cragg Fell races over the last 8 years and we are really proud of them!

Just before the main race, the children’s races through the woods, beside Cragg Brook attracted 37 runners from U8 to U 14.

The biggest category was the U8s, so that bodes well for the future. Gemma Johnson from Midgley, first girl in the U12s, was invited to start the adult race and received a huge round of applause from the assembled runners on Church Bank.

The ritual of finding the oldest female/male runners [prizes sponsored by our local Gamekeeper, Jack Fearn] proved amusing again, but well done Margi White LV50 and Peter White V70! Should anyone want to sponsor a prize next year I would love to hear from you. Similarly if you feel able to marshal a stile or gate, do get in touch. Maggie Smallwood helps every year by manning the gate by Upper Lumb barn, where she lives. Nick Murphy, of Shireburn, usually flags the route and my husband and 3 teenagers do a whole variety of jobs on the day, from registration upstairs in church to organising the finish, marshalling/flagging the junior race, collecting flags, working out result/prizes and more.

Thanks go also to all the landowners including Doug and Lucy of Marsh Grove for the junior races and the Daniel family for allowing us to run over your land.

The whole race is a big undertaking and the organisation starts again in October, when I have to apply for permission from Yorkshire Water/ English Nature to hold the race in 2012 and register the race with the Fell Running Association [includes insurance etc] by Oct 31^st!

Jackie Scarf

PS Thanks to every one in Cragg for putting up with all the runners swarming around, cars parked on Cragg road, a slight delay in travel times etc. I realise it’s not everyone’s cup of tea and I did take note of one very irate resident who phoned to say she had been delayed driving up her track. Please remember it’s only for a few hours, once a year and a lot of hard work, by a large number of Cragg folk, has gone into making it a one of our church’s biggest fundraisers.