From Caroline Howe & Nicola Budding…
Jack Cummings smashes marathon debut in history-making London race
The 2026 London Marathon will live long in the history books, following the annihilation of the world record and first sub-two-hour marathon by Sabastian Sawe – a feat many thought we would never witness. While the elites were breaking all sorts of records, it was also a day that will live long in the memories of the several Ilkley Harriers who took on this iconic world major.
Jack Cummings ran the race of his life to finish in a scintillating 2:27:48 – in what, remarkably, was his first full marathon. Having excelled across all terrains and distances over the past few years, Jack was bang on form for the event, setting a blistering pace of around 5:12 min/mile pace for the first 13 miles and crossing the finish line in an outstanding 129th position out of a record 59,000 competitors. Simply superb!
Two other Harriers also broke the magical three-hour mark – Edwyn Oliver-Evans crossing the line in 2:56:00, with Steven Bysouth third Harrier home on 2:58:10 – both spectacular performances.
Other Harriers to experience the wonderful atmosphere of the world’s biggest marathon include seasoned marathoners Dave Reynier in 3:29:09 and Derek Oliver in 3:37:18; Lucy Lowe in 4:40:47; Lis Merrick in 5:22:27; new Harrier Lizzy Moyce completing her debut marathon in 5:46:45; and Claire Macina in 6:30:32. Well done to all who took part in what must have been one of the warmest London marathons in recent years!
While perhaps not quite as famous, there was at least one other marathon taking place on the same day… Martin Hartley, Sally Armitage, Paul Sullivan and Ritchie Williamson all took on the Blackpool Marathon. Martin was unlucky to just miss out on the sub three-hour goal, finishing in a very quick 3:01:44. Sally, despite several challenges, crossed the line in an impressive 3:12:53 in what was her third Blackpool and fourth marathon. Paul finished in 3:45:21 and Ritchie in 4:19:28. Well done to all!
And it wasn’t just a weekend for road racing… on Saturday the iconic Three Peaks fell race took place in hot and hard conditions. So challenging was the weather, that over 150 runners didn’t finish this year’s race, but it was a mightily successful day for Ilkley Harriers.
There were some particularly outstanding results for Ilkley Harriers ladies, who took the first ladies prize with Kate Archer and Jane McCarthy finishing fourth and fifth females in 4:12:09 and 4:16:41 respectively. Jane was first in her F50 age category, and Kate third in the F40 category. Rachel Carter was the third team member, finishing in 4:46:35. Kate Archer and Katie Poulter also won the first F40 team prize, and Jane McCarthy and Rachel Carter won the F50 team prize. Alison Weston was second F60.
Sandwiched between Kate and Jane was Fraser Arnott in 4:12:25, while Robert Green was the other Harrier to make the top 100 finishers, in 4:19:35. Charlie Kay and James Lumb both ducked under five hours with Ash Winter just over.
There were plenty of debutants too, all performing fantastically, including Emma Sheppard, Nea Weston, Colm McCann, George Whittlestone (who won the prize for youngest finisher at age 18), and Simon Jenkins – all making the cut-offs and completing the race, with plenty of Harriers support en route.
Earlier in the week the Evensplits 5k took place at the Brownlee track in Leeds. Harriers taking part were Michael Odell (17:48), Kyle Bethell (18:28), Jonathan Turner (19:24 and first M55) and Georgina Hamill (22:02) – great performances!
And staying with the 5k distance, the weekend’s parkrunning saw Dan McKeown finish first at East Holmes Field in 18:47, Samesh Chotai first at Roberts Park in 16:42, and Lerryn O’Neill, a junior harrier in the JW10 category, finish first female in 24:01 at Cliffe Castle.
Staying with our juniors, a dry and warm evening greeted runners participating in the final event of the Bunny Run series, with some great results including a first place finish for Alex Wolfenden. In the overall standings for the series, Milena Morgan was second female overall and first GU16 with ollie Holder seventh male overall and second BU18.
Finally, a huge congratulations to Ben Rothery who has been selected to represent the GB & NI team at the European Athletics Off-Road Running Championships in Slovenia on 5-7 June. Congratulations also to Sam Bentham and Ed Hobbs who both received call-ups to the Yorkshire County U23 team for the Inter County Mountain Running Championships at Sedbergh on 3 May – a great testament to their excellent recent form and hard work!
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.