Flower Scar Fell Race | Pendle Cloughs | Calderdale Way Relay

Photo by Keith Parkinson



Sean Carey led the way for the Harriers at Todmorden’s Flower Scar Fell Race last Wednesday evening, finishing in 3rd place just a few seconds behind Calder Valley’s Karl Gray and Alex Whittem.

The 4 mile race, which is free to enter, climbs 1400 feet from the start at Todmorden High School up to the top of Flower Scar Hill and loops back to the start via Robinwood.

The Harriers added a further three finishers in the top ten, with Andrew Wrench in sixth, John Lloyd in eighth and Alistair Rhodes-Dawson in ninth.



Todmorden runners made up almost a quarter of the ninety strong entry, so hopes were high of some good performances and the ladies did not disappoint, with Gemma Kendall putting in an excellent run to finish first lady.

Kath Brierley was second lady, and Bev Holmes marked her first race for the club with fourth lady.

Helen Hodgkinson was fifth and Maria Prescott sixth lady, as the home club dominated the ladies results.


On Saturday, three Harriers took on the 14 mile Pendle Cloughs Fell Race, which requires good navigation to find the nine checkpoints around Pendle Hill.

Helen Hodgkinson finished second lady, Mandy Goth first lady vet50 and Phil Hodgson second men’s vet50.


The rescheduled Calderdale Way Relay took place on Sunday, which had been postponed last December due to snow and ice.

Todmorden fielded three teams who all put in strong performances around the 50 mile route which includes over 12,000 feet of climbing. The distance is split into six legs, each run by a pair of runners.

The mens ‘A’ team finished in ninth place, with Sean Carey and John Lloyd laying down the 3rd fastest time of the day on leg 3.

The ‘B’ team also improved on their previous year's position to finish in 35th place, and 5th ‘B’ team.

The ladies team were boosted by club record performances on leg 3 by Maria Prescott and Sarah Glyde, and on leg 4 by Lauren Jeska and Sarah May.

This took them into fourth place after a close battle with Bingley Harriers, who eventually took third place with an advantage of just 2 minutes, after nearly 8 hours of racing. Holmfirth were the ladies team winners by a comfortable margin.