From John Hayes…
This classic road race starts and finishes at Ripley Castle, which is a stunning venue. The autumn trees and lovely weather helped ease the pain of running round the surprisingly hilly 10 mile route. It would be impracticable – and probably illegal – for the organisers to hand out goody bags of gunpowder at the end. So, instead, they fill them to bursting with little boxes of Yorkshire tea and plenty of chocolate bars. Quite what Guy Fawkes himself would have made of all this, we will never know. But from what I could tell of the happy faces of the many Harriers at the finish, nobody blew up.
From Jaysson Sawyer…
Let us start by rewinding 12 months. I tried a little jog, half a mile in 4 minutes. That was all I could manage. Went on that day to watch Guy Fawkes 2022. Standing near to the end at the castle munching on my free chocolate bar I told myself I would earn the chocolate next year and run up that hill to complete the race. It was a long journey and one I am still undertaking. Functional neurological disorder has stolen part of my life and I am determined to steal it back. Starting with a park run at Roberts park on the 17th December 2022. A jog walk with many clubmates, coming in at 28:51. 14 further park runs in the next 10 months and now back under 20 minutes. 2 HDSRL races hampered from a fall in April leading to 2 broken ribs, 3 x 10k races a couple of trail races and a very hilly half marathon at Langdale have all got me prepared to keep my promise to myself.
Race morning and I feel the butterflies, racing again with clubmates, family and other friends. The weather was surprisingly good though I swear it was a headwind in every direction! I lined up near the front, though with hindsight not near enough as I lost about 50 places in the first half mile as I really struggle in crowded spaces (my special awareness and sensory processing has been impaired) and let others go by. I made many of those places back as I intended a fast start up till the Birstwith Brute knowing it would slow me down and it sure did. I was surprised how early I had to start walking, but I had lost feeling in my legs and feet after a mile or so, just having a pins and needles type sensation makes it quite difficult to get any feedback from the ground when you run. It is one of many unseen symptoms I now have to manage. I lost about 20 places up the hill most of which I gained back on the flatter and downhill sections. Each of the subsequent hills ended up as impromptu fartleck sessions which wasn’t part of the plan but it meant a few nice chats with the same people as we went back and forth. One of those being Steve Murray who I must thank for his words of encouragement even at the end shouting words of motivation and I dare say letting me pip him to the finish line (I suspect he must have known his chip time would still be quicker than mine!!!!) A lovely race ran with a few club mates, but always room for more next year. Personally I finished in 01:11:15 and was 70/805 gun time 71st on chip (Yes we all know who was 70th don’t we Mr Murray!) I would say mid-pack in terms of Ilkley runners as there were some great performances by the likes of Matthew Thackwray in 3rd (1st Vet 35), David Foyston in 15th (2nd vet 45) and Jeff Green who was 22nd (1st vet 55).
Definitely a tough course that needs a little respect, but one I must admit I found tougher today than maybe I should have after my run at Langdale only a few weeks previous. The recovery is going well but nowhere near complete. There are some aspects that I have been told are long term and are things I will have to live with. There are others I feel I can control such as my running so that is what I will do. Off out for another hilly run tonight, all preparation for PECO. So those that will be there, see you Sunday!!!!!