[Photo credit: Laura Dawes]

From Luke Watkeys & Nicola Budding…   

Harriers compete across the disciplines in early autumnal fixtures

It was a week of varied terrain and unpredictable weather for the Harriers, delivering strong performances across track, fell, and trail.

Along the Leeds and Liverpool Canal on Saturday 19 September, ‘It’s Grim Up North’ running hosted their annual Oktoberfest event at the Canal Bank Sports Ground in Rodley. In the 10-kilometre race, Martin Stubbs joined 28 runners and secured a fantastic fifth place with a time of 50:19. In the half marathon distance, Nigel Illingworth completed the flat, chip-timed route in 2:18:29 to take 40th place out of 55 participants.

On the fells on Saturday, the Great Whernside AS race tested runners with a 4-mile (6.4 km) route featuring over 470 metres of ascent from Scabbate Gate in Kettlewell to the summit and back. 73 runners took part, with Gawain Moore delivering an excellent effort to finish sixth overall in 35:19. George Whittlestone finished 12th in 38:21, and Richard Joel took 25th place in 44:28.

On Sunday 20 September, Harriers lined up at the Tilbury Douglas Yorkshire Run for WaterAid, held on the scenic, accessible paths around Swinsty Reservoir in the Washburn Valley. In the 10-kilometre race, which hosted 95 runners, Iain Young led the club home in an impressive third place overall with a time of 39:39. Iain quipped that he found himself running solo between the lead pair and the chasing pack for most of the race, joking to surprised marshals en route that he couldn’t quite believe his luck at being so far in front. Owen Parker followed in fourth (40:55) and also claimed first in his age category. Jonathan Turner took eighth place overall and first in his category with a time of 42:40, while Geoffrey White crossed the line in 50:45. Alison Weston was the sixth female finisher and won her age category with a superb time of 53:02.

Over in Leeds this Sunday, four Harriers joined 266 others on the start line for the Kirkstall Abbey 7, a 7-mile (11.3 km) multi-terrain course that winds through riverside paths, the canal towpath, and the spectacular abbey grounds. Steven Gott finished 24th overall and second in his age category in 47:07, just ahead of Tony Pye, who took 26th overall and third in the same category in 47:27. David Singleton finished in 54:16, and Matthew Snow completed the course in 1:00:44.

Moving to parkrun, Saturday morning brought challenging, changeable weather for the circuit. Despite the conditions, junior Harrier Ethan Pickwoad braved Lister Park to finish in 22:44, and Georgia Poulter took on East Holmes Field alongside 241 others, finishing in 33:21 to claim first in the JW10 category. James Horrex led the senior Harriers home in 22:14.

Further afield, Stephen and Gaenor Coy claimed the award for furthest travelled, crossing the line at the Amager Fælled parkrun in Denmark in 20:15 and 28:32, respectively. Samesh Chotai continued his victory tour, securing an outright victory at the Conyngham Hall parkrun with a rapid time of 16:51. Top-ten finishes were also recorded by Sam Angus, who was eighth at Morden in 19:53; Henry Fernandez, who took seventh at Bolberry Down in 20:54; at Pendle, Robert Budding finished ninth in 25:32 and Nicola Budding finished second in 27:50.

Sunday offered better weather with blue skies and sunshine for the Riverside Gardens Junior parkrun, where Lerryn O’Neill had a fantastic run to finish second in 8:28, followed by Poppy Freer in 12:10.

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.