From Peter Shelley and Nicola Budding…
More wins as Harriers tackle the heatwave in a packed week of trail races
Nine Harriers headed to Norway to compete in the Oslo Ecotrail on Saturday. Offering a choice of routes and distances from a 10k trail to an 80km ultra race, the event showcases southern Norway’s inland and coastal scenery. Technical and steep in parts, the challenge was to prove sterner than it looked with four of the group having their participation curtailed or hampered by injury, none of which thankfully proved too serious. Those that did make the finish put in some excellent performances particularly in the 31km event where Alexandra Lewis and Keith Wood placed 2nd F55 in 3:42 and 2nd M65 in 3: 56 respectively. In the 21km (half marathon) event Jonathan Turner ran a rapid 1:34 to take 3rd in the M55 category. Jayne Norman followed in 2:05 F40 16th and Dawn Turner 2:22 6th F60. Peter Tapper finished in 2:38 5th M70 despite injuring his knee.
A similar format was on offer at the Maverick Peak District XTrails with a choice of distances and routes through the most scenic parts of the Derbyshire Peaks including the Monsal Trail, Pennine Way, Mam Tor and the villages of Edale and Hathersage. Lou McCallion made the most of it opting for the 100km ultra. She paced it carefully and stayed hydrated in the heat to finish in 14hrs 31min and 27th place.
The heat was on for the fixtures which took place earlier in the week too. One of many Dales villages with a fell running tradition, Austwick hosted its ‘Austwick Amble’ Fell Race on Monday evening. 13km of trails with 330m of ascent on grass tracks through the wonderful south Dales scenery were made more gruelling than normal this year by high temperatures. Forrest Hamilton enjoyed a strong a run to 3rd place, whilst father Bob Hamilton was pleased to finish after a heat-induced wobble on the descent.
Thursday evening saw the running of the Apperley Bridge Canter. The race covers 10.5 km on tracks, paths and road with 200m of ascent. Inclusion in the race league ensured a strong Harriers turnout. Jack Cummings made light work of the hot conditions to win convincingly in 36:06, three and half minutes ahead of 2nd place. Forrest Hamilton in his second race of the week finished 8th in 42:25. Nick Kealey was 13th in 43:01 (2nd MV50). Iain Young was 32nd, Dave Robson 54th, Luke Watkeys 61st, Martin Campbell 163rd, Alison Bennett 198th and first FV60, Diane Kitchen 221st and second FV65 and Will Worboys 237th.
Alison Weston notched up another category A fell race in her busy 2026 season. Saturday’s Duddon Valley Fell Race covered 28km and 2,000m of climb including seven summits in the south-west Lakes. Alison finished 97th and 2nd FV60 in a time of 5:12:20.
OMM Lite took place over Saturday and Sunday in the central Lake District fells around Grasmere and Ambleside. Part of the Lake District running festival, OMM is an orienteering, fell running and endurance challenge where competitors navigate between controls to accumulate points within a fixed time. Competing in the Long Score category (seven hours Saturday/five hours Sunday) Jann Smith and Jane McCarthy finished together in 17th place of 116, taking impressive 2nd and 4th places respectively in the vet standings.
John Hayes finished top of Sunday’s rankings and 2nd overall in the Short Score (five hours Saturday/four hours Sunday). Wife Sarah and daughter Lucy finished together in 97th place to complete an adventurous weekend for the Hayes family and Ilkley Harriers’ top orienteers.
Saturday saw the third race in the FRA Junior Fell Running Championships, hosted for the first time by Halifax Harriers at Ogden Water Nature Reserve. With high temperatures and challenging terrain underfoot, competitors’ determination and resilience were tested on the trails through Narnia Woods for the U10s to the steep and technical climbs of Ovenden Moor for the U18s and U20s. Five junior Harriers took on the challenge with a strong set of results as follows: MU10 Joshua Steward 17th, MU14 Michael Moore 17th, Olly Brooks 23rd and Thomas Bailey 31st, MU18 Joseph Bentham 9th, MU20 Oscar Shinn 7th and George Whittlestone 8th.
In Saturday’s parkruns Tim Ashelford was 1st MV60 at East Holmes Fields. Sarah Haines, Joshua Smith and Geoffrey White set personal bests. At Roberts Park Isobel Moore finished 7th female overall and 1st JW10. Harry Sime was 1st MV60 and Diane Kitchen 2nd VW65. At Lister Park, sisters Nura and Mariam Allen finished 1st and 2nd in the JW11-14 category. John Bailey and Christine Ashe set personal bests in the Skipton parkrun. Jaysson Sawyer was 3rd VM45 at Fountains Abbey. Further afield Max Hebbron went to Guildford parkrun and claimed 1st place in the JM10 category.
At Cliffe Castle, Joseph Morris topped the JM11-14 category.
Three juniors were back in action on Sunday morning at the Riverside Gardens Junior Parkrun. It was a Moore Family 1-2 as Michael Moore crossed the line first closely followed by sister Isobel. Joshua Steward finished 10th overall