Successful Calderdale Hike

Team Vasque had a storming Calderdale Hike with Martins Beale and Indge winning the men's race in 5h39m and Rachael Lawrance winning the female race with an impressive sprint finish.

It was the perfect day for an ultra: warm, but not hot, with a cool breeze on the tops. The ground was generally dry, leading to quick running.

The course this year was quite different to last year, not just in terms of where the checkpoints were, but also in character. The only significant road section was the last 2 miles into the finish (and this was pretty much a sprint finish for all the Team Vasque runners: to hold off Wendy Dodds in Rachael's case, to get the best possible time for the Martins). The bulk of the course was over good tracks over the Pennine moors although canny recce-ing could pay dividends in places.

Calderdale provided a great race yet again. There's good running on this race and when the sun shines, there's an excellent atmosphere in the event centre at the finish: the grass of the Sowerby cricket club.

[posted by Martin]