From Jill Ezard…
Mud, Sweat and Tears
It was a busy week on the fells and trails for the Harriers this week, kicking off with the Burley Moor Fell Run on Saturday. This 11km route on well-marked but steep and uneven footpaths starts and finishes at Scalebor Park taking participants up to the high point of Burley Moor near the Great Skirtful of Stones. There was a great turnout for the club with 17 Harriers no doubt chasing valuable points in the club’s race league. Kate Prior led the women home taking third place in 1:00:03. Alison Weston was next over the line in 1:07:04 followed by Jean Sullivan in 1:11:59 and Elaine Cossins in 1:14:42. For the men: James Lee was first to finish taking seventh place overall in 51:21 just ahead of George Whittlestone in 51:47 and Dave Robson in 52:11; it was also a close call between Iain Young (54:29) and Owen Parker (54:41); coming over the line under the hour were John Hayes (55:48), Richard Joel (56:40) and Steve Murray (59:13); Steve Ladhams, Karl Hutchinson, Geoffrey White, Martin Campbell and Nigel Illingworth also had great runs.
Over in North Yorkshire Peter Reader-Harris was the sole Harrier taking on one of four distances at the Swinsty and Fewston Lakeside Dash. Participants can choose to run a 10k, half marathon, 20 mile or marathon distance, all requiring laps of both reservoirs. Peter chose the half marathon event and took ninth place overall, and eighth male, in a time of 1:39:31.
Sunday saw the return of the PECO cross country League, a series of five races organised in and around Leeds in which clubs affiliated to the League compete across men’s and ladies divisions. Each race is about 4-5 miles. The first race of 2026 was held at a very muddy Temple Newsam with a particularly challenging stream crossing. Four Ilkley ladies took on the challenge: Emma Moore was first round the course in 39:50; Alison Bennett was next in 42:37 taking second place in her age category; Diane Kitchen was third in her age category in 45:13; and Kate Lofthouse finished in 50:28. There were six Harriers making up the team for the men: Gawain Moore finished 11th overall and first in his age category in 27:07; George Whittlestone was second in his age category in 28:37; James Batterley (30:37), Ben Hallworth (31:13), Andrew Overend (32:46) and Robert Budding (38:19) completed the men’s team. All the results contribute to the team results with Harriers featuring on the leaderboards already.
And there was equal success for the Juniors with 16 taking on the one or two mile routes. In the one mile race, our youngsters certainly made their mark! Leading the way for the girls was Isobel Moore, who stormed home in first place in an impressive 06:46, closely followed by team-mate Alicia Brett in second place in 06:56. And the success didn’t stop there, with all four of Harriers girls finishing in the top 20: Lerryn O’Neill was ninth and Marie Dyson 17th a fantastic team effort! There was also a great run from Archie Hallworth, who finished ninth boy in 06:43, with Flynn Morgan (08:07) and James O’Neill (08:37) completing our boys’ team.
In the two mile race, Thomas Bailey was our sole male competitor and put in a great performance to finish 28th boy in 09:29. For the girls, Milena Morgan led the way with an excellent tenth place finish in 09:46, followed by Millie Houlbrook in 17th in 10:12. With eight girls representing the club, we also had some fantastic performances further down the field. A huge well done to Amelia Nichols (50), Alice Gardiner (56), Isabel Robinson (74), Tilda Barrett-Lee (78), Daisy Lowe (87) and Cecily Overend (92).
There was an equally impressive turnout at the ever popular Run Bolton Abbey events on Sunday. Participants can choose from a 10k, a ten mile or a half marathon event starting and finishing at the Cavendish Pavillion. All routes set off for a very misty 2.4 mile loop to the Abbey with the 10k then taking a lower route out to the aqueduct, and the ten mile and half marathon routes exploring the hills of the Storiths side of the river. Participants in each event enjoyed a run back through the woods past The Strid. Seven Harriers took on the 10k race with impressive results: Joanne Williamson placed first woman and ninth overall in a blistering 49:12: Vicky Rutherford took second place in her age category in 57:21; Jane Bryant took fourth place in her age category in 1:01:00 pipping Anna Nolan to the line by one tenth of a second, a time that secured her third place in her age category; Jacqui Weston (1:03:47), Rose Hall (1:22:14) and Becky Taylor (also 1:22:14) also had great runs.
In the ten mile race yet more category successes: Sam Angus was the first Harrier over the line taking fourth place and third in his age category in 1:19:10; Maddie Morris took first place in her age category and fifth overall in 1:37:17; Anna Lisles took fifth place in her category in 1:48:16; Jon Nelson and Jill Ezard were seconds apart finishing in 1:59:39 and 1:59:55 respectively, the latter securing Jill fourth place in her age category; Claire Murphy was the final participant finishing in 2:18:32.
And in the half marathon Tony Pye finished in the top twenty and second in his age category in 1:52:44. Kathryn Hamilton took fifth place and first place in her age category in 2:00:32. Also finishing for the Harriers were Jacob Oldham (2:09:55), Hannah Osieku (2:39:50) and Heidi Hoad (2:39:52).
Clearly seeking better weather and fewer hills, Martin O’Halloran, Simon Jenkins, Faye Wilkinson, Océane Bergeot and Junaid Khan jetted off to take part in the Malaga Half Marathon on Sunday. The route hugs the scenic Málaga seafront (including the Paseo Marítimo Pablo Ruiz Picasso), passes through the port area and central boulevards, and finishes through the historic city centre along Calle Larios. Simon led the Harriers home in 1:45:22, followed by Océane 1:51:19, Junaid 1:53:04 and Faye 1:54:28. Martin, who ran as part of his big birthday celebrations, had a great run finishing the event in 2:00:37 and came 12th in his new age category. Also in Malaga in the full marathon distance Mark Gill ran an impressive 3.26:27.
And finally, 50+ Junior and Senior Harriers took part in the parkruns this week with some impressive achievements. A very symmetrical ten Harriers were top ten finishers: Paul O’Looney (8), Samesh Chotai (1), David Singleton (10), Junior Lerryn O’Neil (3), Steve Coy (9), Finn Maxwell (3), Louise Nash (3), Sally Armitage (1), Daniel Paterson (7), and Sarah Marsden (1). There were impressive age gradings for Alison Bennett (81.36%) and Sally Armitage (83.15%). Smashing their PBs this week were Juniors Rafe Garner and Lerryn O’Neil. Well done to everyone who took part.