From Jean Sullivan…

Ilkley Harriers steal the show at the Ilkley Moor Fell Race

This weekend saw the staging of the very popular Ilkley Moor fell race, which has been organised by the Ilkley Harriers since 1990. This challenging 8km fell race, with 400m of climbing involves lots of rocky and technical terrain for runners to contend with. Conditions were good – calm, sunny and dry. Eighteen Harriers took part, with many achieving personal best times on the course this year. And this year’s race incorporated the 2023 Yorkshire Senior & U23 Fell Running Championship race.

Harrier Ben Rothery stormed to the finish to win the race outright in a great time of 35:28, breaking the race record by three seconds. Hot on his heels to finish in fourth place was clubmate Jack Cummings. Third Harrier home was junior Sam Bentham, with Sam taking first prize in his U18 age category.  

Jenny Roberts led the Ilkley ladies home, completing the race in 53:03. She was closely followed by Alison Weston, with Catherine Crawley the third Ilkley lady home.

Other notable performances at this race included from Jeff Green and Bob Hamilton, who took first and third places in their age categories respectively. 

Overseas in Japan, Hilda Coulsey and Andrew Merrick took part in the Tokyo road marathon. This point-to-point race passes by many of Tokyo’s main tourist spots including the Imperial Palace, Tokyo Tower and the Ginza area.  Hilda had a very impressive run, completing this marathon distance in 4:29:51. Andrew also had a great run, finishing in 3:42:37. Both Hilda and Andrew have now completed the Abbott World Marathon Series, a series of six of the largest and most renowned marathons in the world, namely Paris, New York, Berlin, Chicago, Boston and this, their last one, Tokyo. A very impressive accomplishment for both. 

Back in Yorkshire, the fifth race in the PECO cross country series took place this weekend at Roundhay Park in Leeds. The senior course consisted of a mix of grass, woodland trails and concrete paths. Ruth Kitchen led the Ilkley ladies home, finishing in an impressive eighth place overall, completing the course in 32:23 and taking second prize in her age category. Alison Bennett was the next Ilkley lady home, finishing first in her age category, followed by Sarah Lambert. 

Ilkley men were very well represented with 13 taking part in this event. Lawrence McCourt led them home, completing the course in 26:07, taking third place in his age category. He was closely followed by Edward Hobbs who completed the course in 27:08. Third Harrier home was Dan McKeown who ran the course in 27:59, with Dan finishing third in his age category. Another impressive performance from Steven Gott who was the first M45 to finish and their combined efforts – and those closely behind them – have seen the Harriers promoted to the Premier League of the series next season!

There was also a win for Ilkley Harriers in the junior PECO race, with Archie Budding coming in first place, completing the two mile course in a superb time of 9:25.

Back on the roads, down south, Helen Waddington took part in the Cambridge half marathon, one of the biggest half marathons in the country. This flat fast course passes many of the city of Cambridge’s finest historical landmarks. Helen finished in a speedy 1:37:58, an impressive fourth place in her age category.

Also on the roads, Jane McCarthy took part in the North Lincolnshire half marathon. This flat and fast half marathon finishes with a lap of Quinell Park, North Lincolnshire’s outdoor athletics track, in Scunthorpe. Jane completed the course in an impressive 1:29:16, taking fourth place in her age category.

Ilkley Harriers continued their commitment to the weekly parkrun series with some great results both locally and further afield. Particularly impressive was Adam Gerrish who completed his 100th parkrun this weekend, by being the fifth finisher at the Chevin Forest parkrun. Michael Abrams-Cohen was the second finisher at the same parkrun in 19:31. David Foyston was the third finisher at the Fountains Abbey parkrun, completing the course in a great time of 17:10, his best time to date on this course.  Jacqui Foster completed the Morecambe Prom parkrun and also ran her personal best time on this course. The PB’s continued with Paula Reynier achieving her personal best time at the Robert’s Park parkrun, Paula completing the course in 26:04. Overseas Simon Lorimer was the seventh finisher at the Tsujido kaihin koen parkrun in Japan.