From Petra Bijsterveld
Photo credit: Woodentops; Steve Davey; Andy Wicks
The Guiseley Gallop made a welcome return after a pandemic induced absence of 2 years. A largely off-road 10k on good trails with quite a bit of up and down (650 ft) over 2 laps. Organised by our friendly neighbours at Skyrac AC and always held on Easter Sunday it is a perennial favourite with local clubs and also attracts quite a few spectators dotted about in Esholt woods. The race reward of a nice bottle of locally brewed beer is an added bonus.
This race was actually the first event I ever ran as an Ilkley Harrier back in 2013, in my then newly purchased vest. I remember well how nervous I was then, not knowing anyone, and how Vince and Bernie Gibbons took me under their wing with much kindness, and I sat in their car for a bit before the race as we were all trying to stay warm. No need for shelter this time around, the temperature was already pleasant before the start which makes such a nice change after a winter of shivering at a succession of cold and wet races.
Fourteen Harriers lined up at the start down in the woods. A minor delay ensued as Ruth Kitchen’s shoelace broke just moments before the start and emergency tying and knotting had to be done with the short remnant whilst the starter kindly waited. It was worth it as she finished as 3rd lady! Favourite to win Jack Cummings led from the start and indeed won convincingly with almost 2 minutes advantage over the next runner, Sam Robins from Chapel Allerton. There was some confusion on lap one where the front end of the race briefly went the wrong way (longer!) and the marshal sent the rest of us the correct way, which made us at the back end look as if we were cheating and cutting off the corner which we were definitely not. A bit chaotic at the time, and I am not sure what happened. At my end of the race things like that don’t really matter but it would have been frustrating at the front. A minor glitch in an otherwise well organised event with lots of encouragement from the marshals, and a welcome water station which we passed on each of the 2 laps.
Strong performances by all, from winner Jack to Mark Iley who was 1st in his category on his debut outing as a M60, Ruth Kitchen 3rd lady, and Catherine Crawley and Alison Bennett winners of their age categories.
I tried to keep Diane and Adela in my sight, did not quite manage that but wasn’t too far off. I did have an extra incentive to finish as well as I could: on the last descent about a mile from the finish I was overtaken by a female who flew downhill, and Dave Woodhead was taking photos at the bottom of that hill. He called out ‘hello Janet’ (turned out to be Janet Tolson of Red Rose Road Runners) and then Dave shouted after me that surely I wasn’t going to let a Lancashire lass beat me! That did give me a kick under the proverbial and I managed to pass her on the uphill that followed. I said to her that she was obviously a much better descender than I am, and she replied that I was a much better ascender as I pushed on upwards. So having an uphill finish was definitely to my advantage as I managed to put 30 seconds between us. A small victory which made up for being the only Harrier to go over the hour. Still, I was faster than in 2013!
1 33:57 Jack Cummings
9 42:00 Rob Cunningham
21 44:37 Dave Foyston
33 47:10 Jim Ryder
35 47:12 Mark Iley 1st M60
37 47:20 Ruth Kitchen 3rd F
39 47:38 Iain Young
45 49:56 Catherine Crawley 1st F45
50 50:20 Tom Worboys
56 51:37 Derek Oliver
57 51:42 Alison Bennett 1st F60
127 59:40 Adela Reperecki
132 59:57 Diane Kitchen
138 60:38 Petra Bijsterveld
231 ran