[Ed Hobbs, winner of the Nidderdale 10k, photo credit: Woodentops]
From Jill Ezard & Nicola Budding…
Harriers scoop race and age category wins across the country
Racing started early in the week for the Harriers with 23 members taking part in the ever popular Rudding Park 10k, perhaps lured by the “best goody bag in the UK”. The 10.5k course takes participants on an undulating tour of the park on a mix of paths, woodland trails and some technical terrain ending with a climb back up to the main house. It was a successful trip out for the club, with Matthew Thackwray and Oli Murphy, separated by only 15 seconds, claiming first (34:45) and second (35:00) place respectively. And taking another podium spot, Ruth Kitchen was third female in 41:48. Jaysson Sawyer took second place in his age category and John Hayes and Jonathan Turner battled it out in their category to take first (43:58) and second (44:24) place respectively. Rebecca Mon-Williams was second in her age category (57:01) with Emma Sheppard and Clare Boyle taking third place in their categories. A fantastic set of results to start the week.
The podium successes continued into the weekend with three Harriers heading into The Dales to take part in the Run Nidderdale 10k Trail Race. Participants braved the increasing temperatures to follow the course through ancient woodland, over moors, via the summit for views down the valley. Not that the three Harriers taking part seemed to take any time to take in the views. Edward Hobbs flew round the course, winning the race in 38:30 setting a new course record by 14 seconds. Rachel Holder was the second Harrier over the line in 1:04:26 taking fourth place in her age category. And Geoff Howard was first in his category in 1:07:25.
Much of the action for the rest of the weekend was further north. At the Coniston Gullies Fell Race both seniors and juniors were in great racing form. Two seniors tackled the 6km race which has a challenging 245m of elevation. Gawain Moore was first over the line taking fourth place overall and first in his age category in 17:51, followed by George Whittlestone in 20:21. For the juniors, Isobel Moore had a fantastic run to finish as second U12 girl in an impressive 06:19, with Thomas Bailey close behind in 06:24, taking eighth place in the U12 Boys category. Michael Moore also claimed a podium finish, finishing as third U14 Boy in 07:02 after another strong and determined performance.
Our juniors had also performed well earlier in the week at the Kildwick Fell race. In the U10 race, Olivier Haigh and Joshua Steward both produced strong performances, finishing in 15th and 19th places respectively. Hugo Haigh was our sole junior in the U12 race and ran brilliantly to secure an excellent sixth place finish.
On the edge of the North York Moors, Jaysson Sawyer was the only Harrier to venture to Northallerton to take part in the 10k. The loop course is designed to make the most of the atmosphere at the start on Northallerton high street before heading out of the town into stunning country road views. Jaysson had a great run completing the course in 41:17 taking second place in his age category.
Further up the A1, the Hayes family were out in force at the Edinburgh Marathon Festival with all three opting to take part in the half marathon race. Conditions were unusual for this time of year with the heatwave well and truly settled in. The course starts in the city centre taking participants past notable monuments and beautiful architecture before heading to the coast at Portobello, out through Musselburgh to Prestonpans, finishing on the playing fields at the Pinkie School. John was the first family member home, building on his success at Rudding Park, with a finish time of 1:28:52 and third place in his age category. Lucy was next to finish in 1:54:29 followed by Sarah in 2:20:09. A very successful family day out!
To escape the worst of the heat, Alison and Nea Weston had to head all the way to the Isle of Jura on the west coast of Scotland to take part in the Isle of Jura Fell Race. The unmarked course is a tough 28km with a challenging 2370m of ascent. The route is not marked and covers very technical terrain including scree, bogs and steep ascents and descents. The weather was good for the race which Alison and Nea had both completed before – this year brought the bonus of being able to see at the top of every one of the seven summits. Nea was first to finish in 05:36:12 having gained a bit of ground on the descents. Alison completed the race in 05:46:05 taking first place in her age category and winning a bottle of whiskey!
Our award for travelling the furthest for a race this week though goes to Hilda Coulsey who took part in the Cape Town Marathon. Although not currently one of the Marathon Majors the race has been confirmed as one of the candidates and, assuming it meets its targets for the next three years, will take its place as the eighth, and first African, major. Having already bagged all seven marathon majors medals and secured a place through last year’s performance at the Abingdon marathon, Hilda took to the start line. Despite challenging heat and less than ideal training, Hilda pushed through to complete the race in 5:12:02.
And finally, 45 seniors and juniors took part in a parkrun this week and the weather seems to have put some fire in their heels as there were some great results. There were top ten placings for Samesh Chotai, juniors Michael and Isobel Moore, Jaysson Sawyer, Steve and Gaenor Coy, James Horrex and Finn Maxwell. There were also impressive age gradings for Samesh (80.47%), Steve Coy (82.68%), Nick Kealey (81.39%) and Harry Sime (80.33%). Well done to everyone who took part.
Ilkley Harriers is a friendly welcoming club, open to all. If you would like to try us out, please register first on the training page at www.ilkleyharriers.org.uk and then come along to our main club night at 6.45pm on Tuesdays, meet upstairs at Ilkley tennis and squash club.