[Diane Kitchen won her age cat at the Wetherby 10k, photo courtesy Philip Bland]

From Jill Ezard & Nicola Budding…  

Harrier’s success representing England in Mountain Running

Harrier Sam Bentham had a successful weekend representing England in the British and Irish Mountain Running Championships in Wales. Sam had been named in the squad in July having had a fantastic season so far. As part of the England U20 team, Sam took on the 6.9km with an impressive 303m ascent/descent over three climbs on the hills behind Canolfan y Fron in Snowdonia. The terrain is good for racing, climbing through a slate quarry and descending on some very fast tracks.  And it was clearly a good race for Sam who came third in 27:01, just seconds behind the second place finisher, also taking the team prize with his teammates. Well done to Sam for a fantastic outing for the England team.  

And it’s a performance that no doubt Jack Cummings will want to repeat as he received his first England call up this week for the Trofeo Vanoni in October, a relay-format mountain running race. It is a dream come true for Jack as it is an aim he has been working towards for years. It clearly gave him a spring in his step when he took part in the Wetherby 10k at the weekend. It was a great turnout of Harriers with eight taking part in this popular, fast, flat (apart from the hill at the end), and scenic route, ending with some excellent results: Jack took second place in the race flying over the line in 32:55; Sally Armitage was the second Harrier to finish in 39:08, fourth female and first in her age category; Ash Winter slipped into the top 50 finishing in 41:50; and Diane Kitchen took first place in her age category in 53:56. Well done to everyone that took part.

Back on the fells there was a fantastic turnout of juniors and seniors for the close-to-home Bradley Fell race. For the seniors the race is 3.5 miles with 900ft of ascent, starting with a steady climb up the fields and tracks to High Bradley, followed by a steep ascent to the top of Bradley moor. A steep climb can mean only one thing – a fast descent! Continuing his success on the fells, Gawain Moore was the first Harrier home in 25:06 taking 11th place overall and first place in his age group. George Whittlestone was 14th in 25:43, with Iain Gibbons and Nick Helliwell neck and neck in 27:27 and 27:46 respectively. Katie Poulter was fifth in the women’s race in 32.04, taking first place in her age category. Colm McCann had a great race finishing in 34:01.  

And the impressive performances continued for the juniors: In the U17 Boys race, Oscar Shinn finished in third place; Robert Brooks took fourth place in the U14 Boys race; in the under 12 Boys there were two top ten placings with Michael Moore finishing in a fantastic first place and Thomas Bailey in tenth; for the U10 Girls Isobel Moore placed seventh; and in the U9 Girls race Georgia Poulter finished sixth. Well done to all our juniors for some determined running!

Continuing on the fells one Harrier travelled to Patterdale to compete in the La Sportiva Lake District Mountain Trial. Tim Ashelford joined forces with a friend from Durham Fell Runners to compete in the event which is a test of route choice, navigational skill and stamina in difficult mountain country. They competed in the Short Course pairs event which, depending on route choice will typically cover about 12 miles, and came over the finish line in 9:34:59.

Requiring less challenging navigational skills, two Harriers ventured to York to take part in the EvenSplits York 5K race, one of a series that are held monthly from February to November at the University of York Sport Village Cycle Circuit, giving participants the opportunity to track their 5k progress.  Alex Wolfenden finished in a phenomenal 15:44 with an age grade of 82.3% and Harry Sime took second place in his age category in 19:41 and another impressive age grade of 81.6%.

Finally, 42 parkrunners took to the parks and trails across the UK to take part in the weekly timed events. Suitable for all capabilities the events are a great opportunity to build up your running. It was a bumper home event at East Holmes Field with 339 runners and walkers taking on the four lap course. Samesh Chotai romped home as first finisher with Kyle Bethell, John Hayes and Caroline Howe also finishing in the first ten for their gender. There was definitely something in the air though as nine Harriers achieved Personal Bests in the event. It was also a great turnout of Harriers at the Chevin Forest event where Junior Harrier James Lee was the third finisher and Paul Carman, Adam Gerrish, Jann Smith, Junior Isobel Moore, and Heidi Hoad all finished in the first ten for their gender. And there were PBs for Jann and Geoffrey White. Further afield Peter Roll took part in the Mallards Pike event and was fifth finisher. Well done to all that 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.