[Thanks to Will Worboys for the photo]
From Caroline Howe…
Wednesday evening saw the return of the Ilkley Incline in its full race format, following Harriers-only events in 2020 and 2021 during the pandemic. It was the 20th anniversary of the inaugural race, which was introduced by Andy Wolfenden in 2002, so it was fantastic to see a great turnout – around half the field of 80 was made up of Ilkley Harriers, with the other half from local clubs and unattached runners.
True to the forecast, rain began to fall heavily at around 6pm… just as runners were queuing to register, resulting in a clamour to get into the registration tent, as our fabulous volunteer team of Dawn Turner, Jean Sullivan and Sally Malir processed entrants quickly and efficiently!
The race started at 7pm with the rain still falling, and our marshal team of Tracy Watson, Bernie Gibbons, Sally Armitage, Martin Stubbs and Mark Judkowski saw people safely up the route to the finish where a soggy timing team of Neil Chapman, Andy Merrick, Nick Kealey and Danny Thompson were waiting to count the runners home, with sweeper Hilda ensuring everyone made it safely to the top.
The race was won by Edward Hobbs, in what I believe was his first race as a Harrier… Ed finished in a speedy 7 minutes 40 seconds, with fellow youngster Christos Tzelis in second place (after being knocked off his bike a couple of days earlier). Great to see a Harriers 1-2!
The first female home was unattached runner Sarah Gibbs, followed by Valley Strider Samantha Harris, and Beth Rogers of Ilkley in third – another young Harrier.
Thanks go to our sponsors Yorkshire Runner and Saltaire Brewery who provided a fantastic array of prizes for the main winners and the age category winners.
And of course, a huge thanks to the aforementioned volunteers, with whom the race could not have gone ahead without, and also to all those who stayed to help pack up at the end!