Intro, outro & Leg 1 by Nick
Tring’s last entry into Britain’s biggest off-road relay came 6 years ago. My inbox tells me back then Steve Long faced crewing challenges and this year was no exception. Every time I asked a likely candidate, it seemed to clash with any number of races, like May’s off-road championship or some jolly in Snowdonia.
Fortunately, a last ditch plea for teammates was answered at the 11th hour, meaning we could join the other 1000+ runners taking on this epic event.
Starting at Clay House, just south of Halifax, the Calderdale Way wends through moorlands and cobbled streets, down (and sadly up) valleys, and alongside waterfalls for 50 glorious miles. The CWR, now in its fortieth staging, divides the route into six stages varying from 5 to 10 miles, and requires each leg to be run in pairs. You can be disqualified for being more than 20 metres from your partner, so teamwork and communication are key.
Given it’s in Yorkshire, and starts at 8am, travel and an overnight stay away from home were required. I discovered this attracts two types of member: those who strike out alone and those that bring their whole family along for the weekend. Both approaches have their benefits and I rather liked the mixed makeup of our team that ensued, including its 5 person support crew.
The race is held under Fell Running Association rules, so any GPS navigation devices are banned and recces are very much encouraged to avoid errors on the day. Saturday was therefore the day to get any wrong turns out of your system while trodding mindfully along the route and taking in the spectacular views on offer. Fortunately for Leg 1, the route literally runs through a pub beer garden which necessitated a close recce of the local cask beer (hoppy and refreshing). The sunshine and tremendous trails ensured a fantastic day out.
In the evening, all 12 runners and 5 support crew converged on a pub in Hebden Bridge for pies, ales and onion rings before taking in a beautiful sunset across “Happy Valley”. Organising the meal occupied most of the weekend’s planning and fortunately paid maximum dividends, if like me you consider gravy to be a form of dividend. Then the campsite and Premier Inn beckoned us to bed and we prised ourselves away from the pub’s cosy log fire and the golden hour vistas.
I think we all agreed that if the weekend ended there we would’ve been very satisfied and taken some lovely memories back home. However, we had a job to do, and it started at 6am with Matt’s traditional “race” (rice) pudding”.
The hotel I booked quite late on (a long story) was only a mile or so from the start in West Vale. It’s no exaggeration to say all the clubs were northern. Milling around the registration desk were vests from Rossendale, Chorlton, Rippendon, Calderdale, Homfirth, Todmorden, Ilkley, and the host club Halifax Harriers. We picked up our numbers and received the “oooo Tring, you’ve come far” greeting that regular fell runners will be familiar with. At the start line, we heard from a runner who had participated in every CWR and had come back for more, armed with a microphone and some tales of relays past. Getting snowed in surely wasn’t on the agenda since the race had moved from winter. Or was it? Spoiler alert: it wasn’t.
Leg 1: Clay House (West Vale) to Cragg Vale | Matt & Nick
The first leg was even better than I remembered it (from the day before). Despite the overcast start we were sweating up the first hills which I knew quickly narrowed to single file. I’m pretty sure I communicated “our” plan to Matt to get ahead of the crowds before the pinch points so was quite surprised when he said we had set off too fast in between mildly laboured breaths. Matt is a natural slow-burner, preferring to pick people off in the second half, while I thought we would go all out from the off and then regret it later on when you’re struggling; isn’t that how you race? Shortly after this exchange of views, we witnessed a pair of seasoned fell runners smoothly motoring along and deftly overtaking struggling pairs ahead of us. Matt looked on in admiration.
We got more comfortable after the arduous climbs out of Rippendon and Mill Bank and approached Cragg Vale in better spirits. A northern pair behind us were overheard saying the end was close and that they should pick up the pace a bit. This spurred us on to keep ahead of them at all costs, especially with the awesome & narrow descent coming into the village. Recce knowledge goes a long way and I knew how runnable the flagstones were and where the more hazardous ones would require surer feet.
Plenty of teams were coiled in readiness at the changeover point, the village crammed with their array of unfamiliar multicoloured team vests. In view of the timing mats, I shouted “Max and Tom!” and pulled the baton from my handy hydration vest pocket. Fortunately me and Matt were together and talking again so we crossed the line at the same time as per the rules. Max grabbed the baton and they were off!
Leg 2: Cragg Vale to Todmorden | Tom & Max
by Tom
Max and I had slightly different approaches to our morning prep for leg 2, me having been up for a good couple of hours, making sure I had all the kit, and then making sure again, eating breakfast exactly 1.5hrs before the start time and generally doing dad stuff. Max on the other hand rolled out of his van about 15 mins before we were due to leave, whacked down a chocolate bar and a gel and happily announced he was ready to head off. The result, it seems was largely the same as we registered with the organisers to queries about where exactly Tring might be located.
The atmosphere at the first handover was buzzing, with lots of happy chatter and it was great to see Nick and Matt come storming down the road to cheers from the crowd. Our leg had a long steady climb for about 2 miles up to stoodley Pike, where we were rewarded firstly with cracking Yorkshire views, and secondly with some fun technical downhill where we managed to overtake a few teams.There is a sting in the tail of leg two as you have a long, steep road climb out of the Todmorden, but are rewarded with more beautiful views and a fast descent into the next handover where I desperately tried to hang on to Max. All in all, a thoroughly enjoyable morning in the Yorkshire hills.
Leg 3: Todmorden to Blackshaw Head | Liz & Chris
by Chris
After saying I wanted to avoid steep descents Liz and I ended up choosing the shortest leg but with a climb at the start way tougher than any in the Chilterns. Our recce on Saturday went very well; great weather and amazing views. I went to university in Huddersfield and my overriding memory was of thick fog and drizzle….it couldn’t have been more different….after completing most of the route we took a shortcut back down to Hebden Bridge following a beautiful river valley.
Sunday morning we were up early, staying on the same campsite as Tom and Max. We weren’t sure if Max would be up in time for the start of his leg, but he duly made it! At the start in Todmorden there was a great atmosphere, really friendly. After a short downhill we were onto the climb run/walking and keeping up with the pair in front of us it was all going well. This was my first time running on slightly more technical terrain so I was concentrating on not falling….Suddenly we realised we had missed a turn and came to a farm where we had to improvise. Great work from Liz got us back on track using someone’s private driveway I think.
The adrenaline must have kicked in and we managed to catch a couple of people before the uphill finish where there were welcome refreshments. A very enjoyable event I would definitely go back to again.
Leg 4: Blackshaw Head to Wainstalls | Jim & Sam
by Jim
The run started with Liz and Chris careering downhill towards us and an efficient handover any 4×400 team would be proud of. We decided we’d better set off as if we meant it and not let the side down after three great performances.
We set a strong pace, due mostly to having to descend for the first few miles. The real test came when we hit the main climb at mile three, which I think we passed as we kept up with some proper fell runners (identified by having ‘dale’ in their club name). We were rewarded at the top with great views to Stoodley Pike and a relatively flat trail around the moor. We managed to overtake a few teams and reel a few more in.
A quick up and down to the finish or more accurately a quick down and leg burning and painfully steep up to the finish and we were done.
Unfortunately, we’d missed the cut off so we couldn’t pass the baton on to Rick and Stephen. However, we were happy that we’d beaten our target time and made up a couple of places. To celebrate we decided on a 5 mile jog back to Halifax.
Leg 5: Wainstalls to Shelf Hall Park | Rick & Stephen
by Rick
I hadn’t met Steve before but someone had told me he ran with the 12s. This was reassuring as I can just about keep up with the 10s so I thought I might be able to keep up with Steve. When we met he said that actually he ran with the 11s but he looked more like he ran with the 8s. This is no disrespect to the looks of Tony H or Chris B but somehow neither of them really look like an 8 any more than I do. I was a little anxious.
It turned out that Steve was also good with a map which was reassuring. Last time I ran Leg 5 with the great Ian Gower, I recced the route the day before and carried the map in the race but still went wrong twice. If I went wrong Steve could keep us on the straight and narrow.
We had a lovely walk of the leg and then went to find the showers that Liz had arranged for us in a campsite on the opposite side of the Calder Valley from the one we were staying on which was basically just a field with a Portaloo outside it. I’m not quite sure why we didn’t manage to book the campsite with the showers instead of having to just gatecrash them.
Anyway, our campsite was handyish for a very fine pub that Captain Nick had booked; Timothy Taylors on tap and the food was excellent. A good evening was had and the sun was watched to set over Stoodley Pike and we returned to the camp for a peaceful night.
In the morning Steve managed to see the Leg 1/2 handover and then get round to watch Max and Tom come storming in to hand over to Liz and Chris. We had rehearsed our logistics: meet at the end of the leg. Leave my car there, drive to Wainstalls for the start of our leg, drive back to collect Steve’s car afterwards. We were at Wainstalls with plenty of time. The question was: would Sam and Jim make it before the cut off and the mass start for leg 5? Steve and I both agreed the mass start would be preferably to starting one minute before the mass start with all the hounds of hell let loose behind us.
We made the mass start. The first mile was nicely pedestrian. There are a lot of stiles and narrow sections so just as you broke into a run we all came to a halt as the snake of runners negotiated a stile. After the first hill the line thinned out and we could set our own pace. Steve’s was a little faster than mine……I accused him of deception; he definitely was an 8. He promised me that he was only used to Park Runs so that once we got beyond about five miles, he would hit the wall. We settled towards the back of the field and I bided my time working hard so he didn’t have to stop too much for me.
About four miles in there is the leg’s major climb. I ground slowly up while Steve, hands in pockets walked beside me. We did though, grind past a few other teams here which was good for morale. Another descent and then it is basically all uphill to the finish. Five miles done and Steve showed no signs of slowing. It was going to be full on effort all the way to the end. We definitely did better going up the hills than down and managed to continue to make some progress away from the back of the field. Out onto the roads at the back of Shelf, round the pub across the road and into the park, though of course Becky and Andrew were long gone on the final leg. I felt I had run as fast as I could. Shame Steve hadn’t.
Leg 6: Shelf Hall Park to Spring Hall Athletics Track| Becky & Andrew
by Andrew
After a very sunny course recce the afternoon before, the clouds had come over for leg six, cooling it down to perfect racing weather. Given the tight leg 4 and 5 cutoffs, we were faced with a mass start and no baton to carry.
With 70-odd pairs all starting down a narrow path that almost immediately dived down a steep woodland trail, Becky’s observation that she didn’t like being at the back on a start line prompted us to make the right decision – down the hillside we were among the first five pairs and had room to settle into a rhythm as the route worked its way out of Shelf Hall Park and onto the fields.
The pattern of the first half of the leg was: run a mile or two gently downhill across the fields, enter a small town, run on the roads for a bit, maybe with a short sharp hill, repeat. Although a couple of teams from our start had got ahead of us, we found ourselves racing a pair from Ilkley Harriers, one of whom was determined to stay in front and the other desperately trying to cling on. By contrast it felt like we had a very similar rhythm, albeit with Becky stronger going uphill and me able to let go a bit more downhill. Encouragingly, near Bailiff Bridge we caught another mixed pair who had been handed their baton before the mass start.
At Brighouse (after Becky letting me make my only navigation decision of the race nearly resulted in disaster) we turned onto the canal for a couple of miles of flat fast running, with the knowledge that at the end of it would come the climb up through Cromwell Wood. We eked out a lead over the Ilkley pair. A mile and a half at 8% was just about runnable, and although I felt Ilkley were hot on my heels, and there was a risk of forcing Becky to slow down even more, we got to the top and the vista of the whole of Calderdale still well in front.
A steep road descent tested the quads before turning up the Hebble Way to the final climb, a short sharp sting in the tail to make sure there was nothing left for a sprint finish. Happily we didn’t need one, and were greeted by a crowd of enthusiastic Tringers as we crossed the line in 18th for the leg. At the finish, the race commentator described Tring as “the pride of Hertfordshire”, promoting a spectator with a broad Yorkshire accent to respond “Hertfordshire???” A great day out with beautiful running and excellent company. Next year here we come!
The end, or just the beginning?
The finish line was a bouncy, inflatable arch bearing the “Culturedale” (Calderdale + Culture) motif we’d seen around town. In the grounds of the athletics club, a CWR ale was served alongside pork pies from incongruously boujee stalls, but still tasted good. All the while the race commentator quipped and celebrated the returning runners over the PA system. Our blue hoodies didn’t go unnoticed and he not once but twice gave unprompted shout-outs to the exotic visitors from “‘artfudsheer”. One chap also came over to ask why we were there. I gave him the spiel and pointed to the enticing hills enveloping the town. He understood.
It wasn’t until we were in the midst of the race that I actually started to understand the reason we were drawn to Yorkshire that weekend. This was equal parts the beautiful surroundings, the top notch camaraderie of running with like minded folks, and – as Liz rightly noted – getting to know your team mates better.
In terms of the race itself, it wasn’t until the start of leg 6 that I began to appreciate the bragging rights that come with your team meeting the cut off times and successfully delivering the baton from start to finish. This I had to enjoy vicariously through the only 10 or so teams who actually achieved this feat, much to the elation of their club mates poised at the final handover, many of which were runners from earlier legs who had come out in support of the anchors.
Reunited for the first time that day, the team gathered for a final farewell and team photos, vowing to come back the following year. Will they stick to the same legs? Will Max get up on time? Will the pub have us back? There’s only one way to find out…
Calderdale Way Relay 2025
Winners:
Rossendale Harriers 1 (6:03)
Tring RC (8:00), 26 of 90 overall, 23 of 50 in open category