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Cracoe and Farleton Knott Fell Races (Junior Fell Championship Bonus Races)

2 championship bonus races have occurred during the past 2 weeks, organised by BOFRA with age categories a little different to the standard FRA races. The BOFRA races are run in U9, U12, U14 and U17 categories with age on the 1st May 2014. These sometimes can be quite challenging for our juniors as they could be racing juniors from an older FRA category.

The first of the races was at Cracoe on Sunday 20th July 2014. It was pleasing to see 14 juniors attending the race on a bright sunny day in the dales and all gaining the 5 bonus points for their Bingley Championship positions. All juniors raced well on the day with outstanding performances in the U14’s with Alex Stewart taking 2nd in the boys and Olivia Roper taking 2nd in the girls. This was then mirrored in the U17’s race with Matt Merrick taking 2nd in the boy and twin sister Vicki Merrick taking 2nd in the girls.

The second race occurred on Sunday 3rd August 2014 at Farleton, 10 miles west of Kirkby Lonsdale. After leaving Bingley in bright sunshine, we arrived in monsoon conditions with hill not visible from the start field. It was agreed that full waterproof running kit would be required for the U17 race with all other juniors requiring a minimum of waterproof jacket for their races. As this event is in the middle of the holiday period I expected low numbers of on the day, but was surprised to see 7 of our juniors attending. All the juniors braced themselves for a soaking as the rain continued to sweep in. A quick reminder from me on the conditions underfoot and the races started. Lilly Smith started the day with another great performance in the U9’s race. This was followed up by Harry Miller in the U12’s, where again he had a good race. It was next onto the U14’s where both Lucy Miller and Katie Smith showed great fight to take 7th and 9th. Both girls showed the signs of falls in the slippery conditions. It was then onto the older U17 age group with Matt and Vicki Merrick and Abigail White. Due to the extreme conditions it was decided the U17’s would run alongside the senior race. This didn’t deter our 3 runners, with all leading the seniors on the first climb. Some careful descending was required as conditions turned for the worse with lots of slipping and falling being seen from the start/end field. With muddy and bloody legs, cut hands, Matt Merrick came home in 3rd place. This was mirrored by twin Vicki who took 3rd in the girl’s race. Abigail White then finished off the U17 category taking 5th place. Overall a great day for our Bingley juniors, I was so impressed to see them race so well in the extreme conditions. When we left Farleton it was heavy rain and 13c but 22c and bright sunshine when we arrived in Bingley.

Well done to all the juniors in both bonus races.