[Harriers at the Littondale four-mile road race, photo credit: Woodentops]
From Caroline Howe & Nicola Budding…
From village galas to fell tops: Harriers make their mark
With mass participation events largely taking a hiatus for the holiday month of August, the racing calendar focus shifted this week to traditional galas and village events.
Sam Bentham won the Arncliffe Gala Fell Race in a field of 150 in a time of 11:07. George Whittlestone was the second Harrier home in 15:11, and other Harriers completing the 1.6m/400 ft BOFRA race included John Hayes, Alison Weston, Paul Atkinson and Fiona Schneider. 122 took part in the junior races, with Joseph Bentham taking third place in the under-17 race.
On the same day, the four-mile Littondale road race took place – a counter in the Harriers race league. This incentive resulted in a great showing of over 20 Harriers on the start line. Matt Newell finished seventh in 21:57, followed by Ian Young (25:05) and Kyle Bethell (25:32) also in the top 20 out of a 200-strong field. There were first-place age category performances by Jonathan Turner (M55) in 26:04, Justin Pierce (M50) in 28:12 and Derek Oliver (M65) in 28:26. Steve Newell, George Whittlestone (completing his third race of the week!), John Hayes, Mike Williams and Rachel Carter were all second in their respective age categories.
Thursday evening was the Eshton Moor Fell Race, organised by Wharfedale Harriers. The five-mile, 550ft race is an out-and-back along the track of the Pennine Way to the woods near Calton. George Whittlestone finished an impressive fourth overall and first MU23 in 37:03, while Rachel Carter was second female and first F50 in 42:31, and Alison Weston was first F60 in 48:39. Other Harriers participating included Iain Young in seventh (39:21), John Hayes in 12th (40:10), Jonathan Turner 19th (41:54) and Holly Digne-Malcolm 27th (45:08).
In the junior races there were some outstanding results. Michael Moore finished first boy in the under-14 race. Isobel Moore finished first girl in the under-12 race and Thomas Bailey was third boy. Alice Gardner added another podium finish – third girl in the under-17 race.
Further afield, Dan Paterson and Mark Judkowski tackled the 40th Lowther Lakeland Fell & Trail Race, which starts in the picturesque surroundings of Lowther Castle. This scenic route crosses Askham Fell and the Lowther Valley, 13 miles in total with roughly 1400ft of ascent. Dan finished in 2:07:09 with Mark not far behind in 2:11:26.
Notable parkrun performances over the weekend included: Alex Wolfenden, first at Roberts Park in 16:35; Steve Coy, second at Rotherham in 18:42; and Jane McCarthy, second at Glengarriff in 22:28. Both Alex and Steve scored 80%+ age gradings. There were many top ten finishes, and the award for taking part in the parkrun farthest away goes to Pippa and David Singleton in Hamilton Island, Queensland, Australia.
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.