[Photo courtesy of Philip Bland – It was another hugely successful week for Harrier Tom Adams, number 2108]
From Peter Shelley & Nicola Budding…
Ilkley Harriers fell and trail excellence at home and across the UK
The Jack Bloor Fell Race took place on a warm Tuesday evening. The 8.4km route with 350m of ascent links six checkpoints identified by grid references across Ilkley Moor, rewarding good navigators and runners with technical skills, particularly confident descenders. The unusually dry conditions meant stretches on the moor tops were bog-free and easier than usual to traverse.
These demands suited Sam Bentham well as he took both the overall win and the under-23 category. Oli Murphy was third and Jack Cummings an impressive 5th with a Leeds Half Marathon win still in his legs from Sunday. Michael Odell finished 10th and 3rd M40 followed closely by Oscar Shinn in 11th and 3rd M23. Jonny McKenna was 13th, Gawain Moore 23rd, Jack Gribbin 26th, Dave Robson 28th, Paul Carman 41st, George Whittlestone 48th, Ben Sheppard 51st, Richard Joel 59th, Jane McCarthy 64th, Rachel Carter 68th, David Norris 73rd. Sacha Jones was 93rd and Joyce Marshall was 108th and 1st V60.
Ilkley Harriers’ strength in depth gained them first place in the men’s team and 2nd place in the women’s team standings thanks to the efforts of Sam, Oli and Jack and Rachel, Jane and Sacha respectively.
Jack Bloor’s good weather and location brought out the Juniors in large numbers and with races from U9 up to U19, there was a race for everybody. We had some great results with top ten finishes for many of the Juniors and a fantastic 1, 2, 3, 4 in the U19B race!
U19B: 1st Joseph Bentham 11:55, 2nd Ben Stacey 12:23, 3rd George Whittlestone 12:54, 4th James Lee 12:58
U13B: 3rd Seb Livesey 8:25, 5th Michael Moore 8:33, 11th Alex Nossiter 10:16, 12th Wilf Overend 10:17
U11G: 1st Isobel Moore 3:56
U11B: 11th Lucas Odel 4:15
U9B: 2nd Archie Hallworth 3:56, 6th Max Hebron 4:21, 8th Gabriele Dunmore 4:23
The same Tuesday evening saw race one of five in the 2025 Harrogate District Summer Race League. Organised by Harrogate Harriers, the race took place on the rural lanes around Beckwithshaw to the south-east of the spa town. The event and series continue to prove hugely popular, with 39 Harriers taking part. Their efforts were rewarded with standout performances from Tom Adams who won in 31:58, Matt Newell in 5th place, Edwyn Oliver-Evans in 8th, Forrest Hamilton 11th and Harry Brook-Dobson 15th. Further strong age category and overall performances came from Jaysson Sawyer 5th M45 and 26th respectively, Ritchie Williamson 2nd M50 in 33rd place, Jonathan Turner first M55 and 55th overall, Diane Kitchen 2nd F65 in 301st. 488 ran.
Saturday was a day for the ultrarunners. Kate Archer’s endurance program reached new heights literally and metaphorically in the Ultra Trail of Snowdonia. Part of the UTMB series, the 100km route visits Yr Wyddfa, Moel Siabod, Glyder Fach and five further summits in the Eyri National Park covering a total of 6,500m of ascent. Kate beat her own goals for the event finishing 10th female and 2nd in her age category.
An endurance run of similarly high calibre took place over Saturday and into Sunday as Matthew Kennedy tackled the Beara Way Ultra. Covering 100 miles around the Beara peninsula that stretches west into the Atlantic from County Cork, the race took runners over 5,500m of ascent. Combined with tough terrain and high temperatures, the challenge proved too much for half of the field, 21 of whom abandoned. Matthew managed his pacing, nutrition and the conditions to great effect, running through the night to finish in fourth place in 24 hours 16 minutes.
The CRO Ingleborough Challenge took place on Saturday. A fund-raising event rather than a race, the challenge supports the Cave Rescue Organisation. Participants choose between marathon and half marathon distances both subject to maximum times. Opting for the longer route, Rachel Carter and two running partners from Ilkley ran/walked the marathon route which included the Ingleborough summit in 1,223m of elevation. They finished in a commendable 6h 32m.
The Old County Tops was also staged on Saturday. Run in pairs, the event takes competitors across 58km of the central lakes and 3,300m of ascent including the peaks of Helvellyn, Scafell Pike and Coniston Old Man. Runners’ navigation, technical skills, pacing and fuelling are tested to the limit. Stepping in relatively late to partner another runner, but in good form from various recent ultras, Martin Hartley persisted through various setbacks to finish in an excellent 9 hrs 27 mins. Katie Poulter ran with husband Ed to finish in 11 hrs 12 mins. Well done to them and to all the Harriers who demonstrated their mountain skills and resilience on some these seriously gruelling events.
Competitors turned collaborators on Sunday as Ilkley Harriers teamed up for the Calderdale Way Relay. The 80km route incorporates 3,660m of climb and is divided into six legs, each run in pairs. IH team one had Jack Cummings and Tom Adams on leg 1, one of several pairings with prior relay experience as well as tremendous running pedigrees. Both in principle still recovering from racing efforts earlier in the week Cummings and Adams nonetheless flew out of the blocks to set a new leg record putting Ilkley Harriers in a strong position! Great efforts followed by Sam Bentham and Oli Murphy on leg 2, Ritchie Williamson and Steven Gott on leg 3, Edwyn Oliver-Evans and Harry Brook-Dobson on leg 4, Iain Gibbons and Jonny McKenna on leg 5 and Nick Helliwell and Dave Foyston (drafted in at the last minute) on leg 6, but the competition fought back, particularly local teams Rossendale and Calder Valley Fell Runners as well as Wharfedale Harriers. IH team one reached the finish in Halifax in fourth place of ninety overall, a commendable achievement.
IH team two acquitted themselves well. Justin Phillips and Jonathan Turner on leg 1, Martin Stubbs and Simon Jenkins on leg 2, Steve Murray and Nuno César de Sá on leg 3, Colm McCann and Paul Disney on leg 4, Clare Boyle and Nicky Liptrot on leg 5, Charles Wain and Tony Pye on leg 6 ran and collaborated consistently well to place 39th.
Lynn Donohue travelled to West Suffolk to run the 30k Bury St Edmunds to Clare Castle country park completing the undulating course in 3 hrs 15 mins to place 2nd FV60 and 21/91 female finishers.
Four Juniors tackled the Grassington Trail Race, a five-mile multi-terrain course with some steep hills and rewarding views on the trails and moors above the village. Ben Stacey led the Harriers home in 2nd place overall and 1st U16, followed by Robert Brooks 9th overall and 4th U16, Olly Brooks 18th overall and 6th U16 and Thomas Greenwood 19th overall and 7th U16. Ash Winter was the sole senior Ilkley Harrier, enjoying the atmosphere and friendly rivalry to finish a strong 7/109.
Cookridge Community 10k took place on the same day using the tranquil wooded trails around Golden Acre Park north of Leeds. Sam Angus placed 42nd of 373, Maddie Morris 103rd and Nick Anness 357th.
Mark Hall and Geoff Howard both made their presence felt at the Ripon 10 mile race over mixed terrain on the Studley Park and Fountains Abbey estate. Mark flew round in 1:08:21 to finish 5th and first M60 by some margin. Geoff finished 64th and 2nd M70. 149 ran.
Harrier numbers were high in the parkruns. Alexander Wolfenden was first to finish at the Chevin in a rapid 17:43 on this hilly route, which was also a personal course best. Tim Ashelford was 10th and 1st MV60-65. James Horrex posted 17:53 at Gunnersbury to finish 5th while Alicia Horrex ran 21:39 in 78th place.
Rob Cunningham managed 19:14 in 12th at Castle Park while Steve Coy ran 19:41 to finish 4th at Centre Vale. Petra Bijsterveld was 2nd F60 and set a course personal best at Conyngham Hall.
At Roberts Park Andrew Overend ran 19:14 to finish 10th with Harry Sime 20:15 to finish 23rd and 1st MV60-64. Michael Moore finished in 20:47 (1st JM11-14) followed by Isobel Moore in 23:13. At Rothay Park Adam Gerrish finished 11th in 21:15.
Samesh Chotai once again finished first in Skipton in 17:36 while Sally Armitage ran 19:27 to finish 3rd in York.
Howgills Fell Race, the second counter in the FRA Junior Championships, was held on Sunday afternoon. Starting from Lupton Fields in Sedbergh, the races ranged in distance and elevation from 1 km and 20 m of elevation for the U9’s to 7 km and the summits of Winder and Arant Haw (508 m) for the U17 and U19 races. Just three Juniors took part with great results from all:
U17: 7th Joseph Bentham 41:10, U19: 6th Oscar Shinn 39:57, 17th George Whittlestone 53:29.
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.