From the Committee ...
Racing:
Mike AC lots of PBs, including 37:45 for the Heaton Park Memorial 10k (having never gone under 40 minutes before!)
Tom Adams for his amazing 4 consecutive wins in 4 days and great times in Cyprus
Sally Armitage's sub-40 10km at the Doncaster 10km (39:14)
Catherine Crawley, Burley Moor fell race, almost 7 mins faster than last year (ran previously before she became a member of Ilkley Harriers)
Nathan Edmondson for winning the 1st PECO, 2nd place at the Shepherd's Skyline fell race, 1st place at the Harriers v's Cyclists event
Fiona Schneider for running the Athens marathon
Colin Williams for 4 marathons in 4 days (Fewston/Swinsty)
Lucy Williamson for fourth place overall (first lady) in Betws-y-Coed Trail 10k
Jack Wood for competing in the World Mountain running championships in Patagonia, silver medal at the British Fell Championships
Volunteering:
All running leaders on the Tuesday night club runs
From Hilda Coulsey ... Age category winners accumulate lowest times over their best 6 out of 10 races in the year. Of those Harriers completing 6 or more Dan McKeown was first Harrier placed in a very creditable 1:45:34 for 2nd V40. Mike AC has run so much faster over the year, with a difference of 1min 33 between fastest and slowest times.
(1 Jonny Johnson Rotherham 1:35:16 for his best 6) 10 Dan McKeown 1:45:34 2nd V40 20 Steve Coy 1:51:20 3rd V45 21 Michael Abrams Cohen 1:52:49 40 Robert Budding 2:03:13 2nd V50 81 Hilda Coulsey 2:31:33 1st V65
From Sally Armitage ... Conditions were.... 'interesting' to say the least. By the time we arrived the cycle track had near enough completely frozen over and turned into an ice skating rink. Disappointing as, other than that, conditions were perfect. The race went again regardless and all 3 of us gave it a go, needless to say it was not a PB day for most.
From Mike Abrams-Cohen ... A death defyingly icy course, that in all truth should have been cancelled. Sally continued her form shaving a few seconds off her 5k time, whilst Dave and I finished very closely to each other, in relatively good times for the hazardous conditions.
(1 17:01 Daniel Lilley, Chorley AC & Tri Club) 12 18:24 Mike Abrams-Cohen 14 18:33 David Foyston 21 19:23 Sally Armitage 34 ran
Bradford (1 17:52 Martin Fillingham, Saltaire Striders) 43 22:49 Matthew Snow 268 ran Skipton (1 17:59 unknown) 2 19:03 Martin Archer 6 19:51 Rachel Carter 1st F 9 20:54 Rob Budding 80 26:56 Nicola Budding 191 ran Wetherby (1 19:04 Daniel Linstrum, Wetherby Runners) 21 24:18 Geoff Howard 73 ran Roundhay (1 17:56 Andrew Stemp, West Anglian Orienteering) 210 27:59 Petra Bijsterveld 403 ran
From Hilda Coulsey... On a dark and rainy late November evening it became quite exciting at the sharp end of this race. Dom Coy was so close to a win and with Nathan took the Harriers top spots. Mike AC continued his run of excellent times with a pb for this course and with Dave Westhead and Helen Thurston under 19:00 too competition and performance is strong.
(1 15:52 Jonny Johnson, Rotherham) 2 15:53 Dom Coy 10 17:43 Nathan Coy 22 18:05 Mike Abrams-Cohen 27 18:41 David Westhead 32 18:58 Helen Thurston 49 20:10 Steve Coy 57 20:39 Robert Budding 101 24:46 Hilda Coulsey
Cumulative results for overall 2019 prizes soon ...
Congratulations to Nathan Edmondson on his win. Results ...
Men 1 27:13 Nathan Edmondson 24 30:28 Matt Cox 26 30:33 Dan Mckeown 34 30:52 Steve Gott 85 32:42 Jaysson Sawyer 107 33:25 Steve Murray 134 34:25 Dave Westhead 210 36:18 Simon Richardson 215 36:25 Rob Budding 376 41:21 David Singleton 385 41:40 Matthew Snow 428 43:14 Geoffrey White 562 finished Ladies (1 31:26 Alice Leake, Leeds) 79 40:27 Caroline Howe 98 41:32 Anna Nolan 99 41:32 Jane Bryant 137 43:29 Alison Bennett 155 44:21 Helen Waddington 184 45:11 Adela Reperecki 185 45:19 Ros Brown 190 45:27 Helen Horton 195 45:38 Diane Kitchen 219 46:30 Anna Pickering 220 46:32 Nicola Budding 310 49:46 Jacqui Weston 367 52:47 Sue Williamson 390 54:13 Sally Wright 470 finished
From Colin Williams ... Today was the fourth and final day of the Swinsty & Fewston Marathon series, thankfully, because I don't think I had another day in me. A busy course today, without the rain, walkers and dogs were out in force.
The Marathon course is four laps of the two reservoirs following the footpaths with a total of 2,000 ft of climb.
I had my second fastest time of the week today 4rs 23min, mainly because of a fast finish, as I knew I wasn't running it again tomorrow.
Thank you everyone who sent me messages on WhatsApp
Results ...
From Sally Armitage ... A fast, mostly flat, 10k road race. I entered this race in an effort to get closer to 40 minutes, I never imagined I'd actually get under 40 minutes! I was the only Harrier to make the trip over. Well organised, chip timed, conditions were perfect, spot on.
(1 31:26 Nick Martin, Caistor RC) 141 39:14 Sally Armitage 2515 ran
From Tom Adams ...
I've been meaning to do the Cyprus Four Day Challenge for quite some time and this year I finally got round to having a go.
The Cyprus International Four Day comprises of a 6km time trial, 11km uphill race, trail half marathon and a 10km road race.
I've never done a multi stage race before and it's rare that I've even done two races back to back, so I thought why not jump in at the deep end and do four races in a row.
Waking up the day of the first race, I felt refreshed and ready to go. The race wasn't until 3pm, which isn't the best time for me to race, but a good bowl of porridge with banana mid morning and a banana a few hours before meant I was just about ready to run. The first race was a 6km time trial with people being set off at 10 second intervals. I felt strong and gave it full beans. Final results say that I ran 18:55 for the 6km, so I was happy with that. I was a bit worried that going eyeballs out on the first event might leave me jaded, but a dip in the sea and a chicken kebab seemed to sort me out.
Day two was an early start, and a bus over to the Akamas Peninsula. Today's race was 11km uphill with 650m of ascent. It wasn't majorly steep, so some fast running allowed me to finish in 45:40. I had thought about conserving energy for the trail half marathon the next day, but couldn't help myself and once again gave it everything.
Day three, another early start for the trail half marathon. The race had a steep old start with about 200m of ascent in the first 6km. Not only did I feel good on this run, I ended up running 71 minutes for a hilly trail half marathon. This was my pb for a half and has made me think that maybe I should have a go at a flat road one to see what time I could do.
I thought I'd be feeling pretty wrecked by this point, but other than slightly achey muscles, I felt good and ready for the final assault.
Very early start this time as the race started at 8am. I had my usual porridge breakfast and headed to Paphos harbour where the race started. It was a fast start being led out by the police on motorbikes closing the roads as I went. I was feeling it a bit in the legs at the 6km marker, but kicked on and finished in 31:57. I never thought I could possibly go sub 32 with three days of hard racing in my legs, but I'd done it in style.
From Caroline Howe ... Congratulations to Tom on his win, beating Eddie Irving's V35 Club Record
(1:11:21, Brass Monkey 2000).
Results ...
1 1:11:17 Tom Adams 275 finished
Tom also won every other race in the Cyprus International 4 Day Challenge! And his 10k time was the fastest by a Harrier this year!
21/11 6km Time Trial 1 18:55 Tom Adams 273 finished 22/11 11km Hill Climb 1 45:46 Tom Adams 262 finished 24/11 10km City Run 1 31:17 Tom Adams 313 finished
From Colin Williams ... Day three of four and it doesn't get any easier, today we had to contend with heavy rain for three of the four laps. I was a little slower than yesterday in a time of 4hr 30 mins and finished 15th. Full results to follow.
Woodhouse Moor 1 16:18 Nathan Edmondson 400 ran Cardiff (1 15:50 Jack Hope, Kettering Town Harriers) 25 18:24 Alex Hirst 576 ran Edinburgh (1 16:13 Sam Brown, Edinburgh AC) 2 17:09 Ruaridh Mon-Williams 565 ran Bradford (1 17:54 Michael McCartney, Bingley Harriers) 31 22:07 Beth Massey 1st F 295 ran Warrington (1 16:58 Daniel Fox, Warrington AC) 60 22:41 Tom Worboys 420 ran Skipton (1 18:00 Samuel William, Skipton AC) 4 19:11 Michael Abrams-Cohen_ 27 23:25 Harry Sime 152 ran Ellenbrook Fields (1 17:17 Rowan Daly, St Albans AC) 138 27:45 Melanie Edwards 278 ran Centre Vale (1 18:09 Andy Ford, Todmorden Harriers) 33 25:36 Will Worboys 121 ran Roundhay (1 18:44 Oliver Roberts, Dark Peak) 172 30:23 Petra Bijsterveld 245 ran
From Colin Williams ... I took part in the Swinsty & Fewston Marathon - Day 2 today, same course as yesterday, but I was a lot slower 4 hrs 24 mins, coming 12th, but this is the first time I have run marathons on consecutive days.
From Colin Williams ... today I took part in the first day of the Swinsty & Fewston Marathon, (or Swinsty and Pewton as it says on the medal ribbon). I haven't seen the full results yet, but I came 7th in a time of 3:49:49, the race was won in a time of 3:13:24.
From Michael Abrams-Cohen ... Results ...
Ladies, 4th team (1 19:54 Alexandra Bell, Pudsey & Bramley) 19 24:00 Kate Archer 22 24:11 Rachel Carter 31 25:10 Sarah Pickering 38 26:25 Beth Massey 40 26:36 Sally Malir 65 29:23 Alison Bennett 74 30:43 Joanne Williamson 76 32:36 Petra Bijsterveld 81 33:23 Anna Pickering 90 ran Men, 5th team (1 27:52 Graham Rush, Leeds City) 5 28:50 Dom Coy 15 30:17 Cam Reilly 29 31:36 Steve Gott 49 32:59 Tim Ashelford 77 35:04 Steve Murray 78 35:07 Michael Abrams-Cohen 90 36:05 Steve Coy 121 39:06 Mark Iley 142 43:56 Michael Ho 143 44:05 Phillip Chappell 153 finished
From Paul Stephens ... More of a fun run rather than a race but a brilliant experience. 40,000+ people running, jogging and walking round the streets of Addis Ababa. Lots of singing, chanting and selfies. I was running of course, as best I could. It took 15 minutes to get through the first 2k but I got a little faster after that, and seemed to cope with the altitude - c2500m, and the hills. About 450ft of ascent in total with the last 3k downhill which was helpful.
There was an elite race which was timed, but no timing for the masses. My watch says 55.57 which given conditions I was happy with.
From Mark Judkowski ... Time: 4h 23 min (winning time was around 3h 20)
23 miles in the north Dales from Askrigg, through Thoralby to Bolton Castle and back. It's a typical low key but well organised LDWA event. Most of the running is on good tracks but the recent weather made some of them a bit more challenging. Apparently the views are good but for the second year in a row low cloud spoilt it for the first half.
From Dave Robson ... Really well organised and marshalled race which includes a t-shirt and a choice of beer all for £9!
The course is just under 17 miles with 1470m of climbing all achieved on a hill of 558 metres at it's highest point.
The first 7 miles is straightforward enough - big climb to top of the hill then a great, long, fast descent. After this it gets tough........
The second half of the race is a series of five steep climbs and descents, attacking the hill from various angles, which seem to get progressively harder as you go (or maybe that was just me?)
It is fair to say I went out too fast and suffered toward the end, losing quite a few places, but I will put this down to experience and all in all I was happy enough with my time of 3h 12mins.
Fellow Harriers, Paul Carman and Jeff Green both finished with excellent times under the 3 hour mark.
It's a friendly event with around 350 runners and I would recommend it but make sure you pace it better than me!
(1 2:20:02 Chris Holdsworth, Ribble Valley) 51 2:55:45 Paul Carman 61 2:59:36 Jeff Green 101 3:12:04 Dave Robson
Men 1 38:15 Tom Adams 52 47:35 Jim Ryder 393 finished Ladies 221 77:19 Jacqui Weston 297 finished
1 36:01 Nathan Edmondson 3 37:14 Jack Cummings (2nd runner) 11 40:53 Istvan Jacso 16 42:00 Dan McKeown 28 43:08 Nick Helliwell 49 45:36 Gavin Lamb 76 48:23 Paul Disney 210 runners and cyclists
1 16:58 Dan McKeown 2 17:12 Istvan Jacso 7 18:13 David Foyston 10 18:29 Jaysson Sawyer 15 18:59 Helen Thurston 22 19:46 Sally Armitage 28 20:25 Beth Massey 57 finished
From Ben Sheppard ... Well done to our very own Jack Wood, doing himself and his club and country proud on the biggest stage, competing with the best long distance mountain runners in the world in Patagonia over a 41.5k course with 2,184m of ascent.
Results ...
(1 3:12:16 Jim Wa;msley, USA) 43 3:52:34 Jack Wood 88 finished
... and photos of Jack in action here, and here.
Fountains Abbey (1 17:32 Stephen Ellison, U/A) 76 22:25 Jann Smith 419 ran Skipton (1 18:39 Julian Hood, Skipton AC) 18 22:57 Catherine Gibbons 170 ran Cardiff (1 16:03 Mukhtaar Farhan, U/A) 17 18:38 Alex Hirst 687 ran
From Colin Williams... On Friday I took part in the "Hell of the Hill", a series of five marathons described as one of the toughest marathons routes, with over 4,000 feet elevation gain and 26.2 miles of tough stone and muddy trails, running 5 laps over Rivington Pike near Chorley.
This is my third time of running this tough but enjoyable event on a Friday, having been injured and therefore not been putting in the miles, I was disappointed, but not surprised to be 40 mins slower that last year. I finished 4th of the single day runners, 7th out of 55 runners overall, in a time of 4:40:13
Results
From Michael Abrams-Cohen ... The last race of the York Evensplits series saw a depleted field take on the five lap course in less than ideal condition. The torrential rain and strong winds didnt stop us!
(1 15:44 Jonathan Johnson, Harrogate) 12 17:19 Dan McKeown 23 18:03 Michael Abrams-Cohen 44 20:36 Mark Iley 71 finishers
From Jane McCarthy...
GET YOUR 2020 CALENDARS OUT - ILKLEY HARRIER LEAGUE RACES for 2020 announced!
We have our Club Races, Old Favourites and some exciting New Races in the League next year. After Stanbury Splash in January, Dewsbury 10K will be the first Road race - with nearly 30 Harriers registered to run it should be a great start to the League competition. For those who have missed out on a Dewsbury entry, there are 7 more great Road races to choose from.
2020 races on the League page
From Michael Abrams-Cohen... Returning to Newcastle Town Moor for the Heaton Memorial 10k, where I ran last year in 40:47, with the aim of breaking 40 minutes for the first time. I surprised myself with a massive 3 minute PB finishing in a time of 37:45 to finish in a respectable 67th place.
(1 30:41 Marc Brown, Salford) 67 37:45 Michael Abrams Cohen (PB) 504 finished
From Vince Gibbons ...
Wonderful hilly trail run in grounds of The Devonshire Estate today. The course ran across land usually closed to the public.
We were joined by Paco and Manuela, runners from Universo Sevilla. Being used to winter running temperatures above 20C, they found our Yorkshire conditions a little bracing! Many thanks to my better half Bernie, daughter Catherine and friend Dianne Kitchen for acting as tour guides and translations whilst running.
This annual event covers extraordinarily beautiful terrain. Strongly recommended.
Please ignore the race times, folks. Surely it was more that 10k or am I showing my age?
Results...
Half Marathon (1 1:33:31 Spencer Shaw) 28 1 53:15 Jonathan Turner 42 1:58:37 Paul Disney 68 2:07:06 Peter Roll 69 2:07:08 Rob Budding 79 2:10:41 Caroline Howe 91 2:13:33 Oliver Street 102 2:18:35 David Howe 131 2:27:21 Jill Ezard 136 2:29:42 Fran Cunningham 191 2:51:03 Paul Sugden 212 finished 10 mile (1 1:11:03 Tim Brook, Northowram Pumas) 21 1:26:04 Derek Oliver 37 1:35:14 Jane Bryant 198 finished 10k (1 44:38 Jake Ridding) 28 56:55 Catherine Gibbons 174 1:11:08 Diane Kitchen 186 1:13:25 Amanda Newham 207 1:14:27 Bernadette Gibbons 222 1:16:24 Julie Brunton 273 1:18:43 Vince Gibbons 323 1:22:37 Sara Pearce 348 1:24:12 Murna Downs 493 finished
From Fiona Schneider...
What do you do when your sons give you a marathon entry as a 60th birthday present?
You all know what to do ..just get out there and enjoy it!
The Athens marathon starts right there ...in Marathon by the Olympic flame and ends in the
Panathenaic Stadium, the route being the same as in 490BC and used as the first route of the modern Olympics over 100 years ago.
For those wanting a flat city tour, this is not it, but the climb of 395 metres adds the interest.
I struggled with the hill, perhaps with the heat and humidity but the best part is the last 10km downhill. Just for once that heartsink last 2km of marathon running, (Can I really be this slow?) for me at least, was removed with a proper downhill to the finish line. That was a great pleasure.
Results...
(1 2:16:34 Komen John Kipkokir) 9318 4:45:57 Fiona Schneider 16522 finished
1 43:12 Jack Cummings 4 45:27 Oli Murphy 7 47:22 Steve Gott 8 47:29 Jon Dennis 11 48:36 Dan McKeown 20 51:45 Dave Robson 24 52:11 Dave Westhead 27 52:43 Nick Kealey 32 53:21 Steve Murray 37 53:45 Kate Archer 2nd lady 40 54:57 Andrew Overend 49 55:31 Rachel Carter 50 55:35 Jane McCarthy 55 56:47 John Hayes 57 57:16 Michael Duffield 63 58:06 Forrest Hamilton 78 60:51 Joyce Marshall 81 61:17 Chantal Busby 91 62:32 Catherine Crawley 95 63:38 Paul Calderbank 100 64:08 Catherine Westhead 121 69:21 Geoffrey White 124 69:36 Colm McCann 137 72:20 Antonio Lopez 144 73:13 Adela reperecki 162 79:53 Petra Bijsterveld 170 82:03 Paula Reynier 173 84:06 Claire Boyle 184 finished
(1 42:29 Jonathan Tyler) 4 43:41 Lucy Williamson 183 took part
Bradford 1 15:49 Tom Adams 432 ran Cardiff (1 15:45 James McCrae, Hallamshire Harriers) 13 18:49 Alex Hirst 523 ran Burnley (1 15:29 Chris Holdsworth, Ribble Valley Harriers) 61 23:38 Will Worboys 379 ran
(1 53:49 James Douglas, Border) 214 1:25:09 Alison Weston 344 1:39:30 Andy Wolfenden 448 finished
(1 56:19 Andrew Grant, Harrogate) 42 1:08:03 Mike Abrams-Cohen 45 1:08:45 Kate Archer 1st F40 46 1:08:49 Rachel Carter 2nd F40 47 1:08:44 Steve Murray 3rd M50 148 1:18:26 Catherine Crawley 178 1:20:39 Caroline Howe 198 1:21:50 Claire McLoughlin 300 1:27:36 Helen Waddington 345 1:29:23 Hilda Coulsey 2nd F65 460 1:34:48 Jayne Norman 466 1:35:08 Fiona Schneider 797 finished
(1 43:40 Simon Bailey, Mercia) 2 44:34 Nathan Edmondson 11 49:54 Steve Gott 192 finished
From Ben Sheppard...
This is one of a series of races throughout the year starting in Otley and organised by Punk Panther. I enjoyed it enough last year to return once more. The route goes up to Surprise View at the top of the Chevin, over to Bramhope, Cookridge, around the runway of the airport, Yeadon Tarn, Guiseley Woods, Hawksworth, Menston, onto the moor at Burley Woodhead to the Cow and Calf, down Ben Rhydding, up to Timble, to Norwood along the beautiful Lindley Wood Reservoir (this year a diversion took us a little higher into the woods), through Leathley to the finish at Pool-in-Wharfedale. 33 miles and 4135 ft climb. It was muddy under foot but the rain didn't arrive until late on. There were some young fast runners at the front and winning time was 4.45, that last finisher in over 10 hours. I finished in a little over 5 hours in 6th place (losing a "sprint" finish with last year's winner whom I caught with just over a mile to go). Punk Panther ultras are fun and friendly races, very welcoming of all abilities and not daunting for first time ultra runners.
Results
Woodhouse Moor (1 16:35 Marcos Valerio Palacos, Roundhay Runners) 15 19:16 Tim Ashelford 392 ran York (1 16:58 Zak Mountford, Builth and District RC) 15 18:52 Michael Abrams-Cohen 31 20:03 Sally Armitage 3rd F 389 ran Bradford (1 17:25 Will Kerr, Saltaire Striders) 20 21:43 Beth Massey 1st F 21 21:47 Oscar Street 98 27:02 Paula Reynier 280 ran Skipton (1 18:13 Tim Chadwick, Skipton AC) 5 20:54 Rob Budding 36 26:46 Nicola Budding 39 27:05 Fiona Schneider 123 38:41 Catherine Gibbons 136 ran Victoria Glasgow (1 17:09 Paul Sutherland, U/A) 35 21:17 Craig Berry 385 ran Fountains Abbey (1 18:21 Trevor Schofield, Ripon Runners) 3 18:43 Paul Carman 31 22:23 Jann Smith 3rd F 285 ran Myrtle (1 20:58 Ben Watson, Baildon Runners) 4 21:44 Jane McCarthy 1st F 133 ran