Ilkley Harriers news archive 2024

CCC (Courmayeur Champex Chamonix) 30th – 31st Aug

Sat 31 Aug 2024

From Andrew Merrick…

For the 7^th year in the last eight, I came out to the alps in August to either support or take part in the UTMB week of races – the atmosphere in Chamonix remains as special as ever.

Having earned some stones last July, I spent them successfully entering the CCC, which largely follows the route of the last 2/3 of the full UTMB course – 100km and 6000m of ascent.

There were a number of contrasts to last year’s Chamonix experience, during which I did the TDS in the early part of the week. The CCC starts, as UTMB, on the Friday – this time the bus to the start in Courmayeur was painless (my daughter kindly got up early to drive me into Chamonix), and we arrived almost 2 hours before the start of the race, after a very straightforward passage through the Mont Blanc tunnel. I was glad I had booked a later bus, since two hours was more than enough time for pre-race faffing. Despite the gang planning to meet me at the end of the race, I took a drop bag with me so I had access to warm clothes, none of which I needed. The one light, wicking layer I wore to the start was enough for the entire race – I don’t recall it actually being dry at any time after we had started…. [Last year I peaked at 4 layers and two pairs of gloves, a hat and a hood].

I was due to set off at 9:15 am at the front of the second wave, which gave me to meet Ed, the first of four fellow Brits from the Southampton area… I always find it reassuring to compare notes before the start. We had been warned about the bottleneck once we hit single file on the long (1400m ascent) climb out of Courmayeur, and there was a clear sense of people moving pretty quickly from the start to minimise the queue time. I joined in with this which resulted in only a 5 min wait or so, although there were a number of other stationary moments on the way up to the first peak at Tete de la Tronche, with some fabulous views on the way up to one of the two high spots on the course (and actually a higher climb out of Courmayeur than on UTMB) – a solid 6 miles of climb to start the race! This was followed by in places a dusty descent down to the first Check Point at Refuge Bertone, not quite 3 miles further on. I had planned to deploy the Petra technique of faff minimisation at all of the seven CPs so I was quickly on my way after refilling my bottles and grabbing a bit of water melon. There is then a relatively flat/undulating section most of the way to the second CP 16.5 miles in at Arnouvaz. It was on the way down the steepish descent into here that I started to feel some leg cramp developing in both inner quads.

I decided it was just too warm for some salty bouillon so stuck with the quick refuelling plan and back out for the long climb out of Italy to the top of the grand col ferret. The route was still pretty busy at this stage, so I just tried to sit in behind people going at a similar pace and conserve energy as much as possible, chatting when the opportunity arose. I should have taken some more water with me for this climb in the warmth of the afternoon – I was right to recall there was no water at the top, so I took a few minutes to sit down prior to the lengthy 6 mile descent into La Fouly. It was on this descent that my legs were getting pretty cross with the world, and I found the only safe thing to do was to march rather than run, the straighter legged approach reducing the cramp risk, although i did still have to stop a few times on the side of the track to stretch out and swear a bit. Happily there was a water stop a couple of miles down from the summit, which allowed a full bottle refill, before limping my way down to the first Swiss CP. At this point, despite the temperatures – still at least mid 20s – I decided I had to go the bouillon route to help with salt intake plus a little cheese (hard to digest with a dry mouth), which I nibbled at on the way to Champex – a lovely small Swiss town at the end of our third climb marking the half way point. Happily the first half of this section is pretty flat which gave my legs a bit of a break; even more happily, I was passed by Ed who I had been chatting to at the start, we ran together for a little while and in response to my answer as to how it was going “it would be better without the cramp”, he very kindly gave me 3 salt tablets. I took one immediately and he also said his wife would be at Champex and might have some more. The second half of the route to Champex is a climb up through the trees, at which point I bumped into Dick Jones again, who had also been having cramp issues, albeit his were more uphill than downhill. We stuck together for a lot of the climb until he had to stop to sort his uphill cramp and I carried on in reasonable spirits to Champex.

The CP here was very warm and very rammed – the supporter buses had sold out months ago – I forced some soup down, took a second salt tablet washed down with coke, grabbed a small lump of cheese, and got out of there, recognising there was no way I would be able to spot Ed or his wife. In an outbreak of incompetence I had forgotten to get my head torch out of my back pack at Champex so stopped relatively soon afterwards as we hit the trees again.

I had reasonable experience of the remaining three legs, all three of which feature a messy climb and a longer and gnarlier than you think descent, particularly on the first two. I refuelled again at every opportunity on the next section (a lot of French villages have running water points, which are very welcome in these temperatures), and fell into a reasonable rhythm for most of the next (800m) ascent occasionally overtaking slower competitors, and sticking with the plan of never stopping on a climb. Dick and I compared notes again a few times, at various points – he was always quicker than me downhill – and we eventually made it to the top of climb 4 (out of 6). Not long after the top, the route, slightly randomly, takes you through a barn, where they were serving water and coffee. I passed on the coffee but topped up my bottles again, getting close to not liking the taste of my Tailwind anymore! I had remembered that the descent into Trient (or Trent as it is now known after my daughter Sophie’s failed attempts to get there) was more technical than you really need at the bottom and longer than you need it to be. I was struggling to refuel with solids properly at this point having been quite disciplined with my 45 min timer on my watch for most of the race. I put two shotbloks into my mouth at one point on this leg, and at least one was still left when the next 45 min timer went off…… I had a simple plan at Trient – to get out as quickly possible – I knew if I got out of there I would make it to Vallorcine, and I knew if I made it to Vallorcine, I would definitely finish. I couldn’t face any soup, so I just put water in my bottles, took my remaining salt tablet, ignored the “take 1.5 litres with you” advice, and headed out around about midnight for our first French CP, where I knew Petra would be kindly waiting.

After an initial flat mile or so, the track climbs quite steeply (another 800m+ climb) so I settled in behind a woman wearing a blue mountain marathon clinic top (the only thing I knew about her), remembering there would be a fire burning and a couple of marshals most of the way up, although the post brazier climb was longer than I recalled. We eventually topped out, and I continued to largely follow BMMC woman for most of the descent thanking her for her steady pace, as we eventually got down to the wide ski track near Vallorcine. At this point I saw Dick again and we reminded ourselves that this track was short-lived before diving off on a gnarly track through the woods, eventually coming out close to the CP although a detour was required to cross the railway line and circumnavigate at least three sides of the marquee.

As expected, Petra was there with more salt tablets, the requested bottle of smoothie (I drank half) and some frozen sliced banana in a bag. After a further glass of coke, we agreed I had run out of excuses to sit there, and left at about 3:15am, thinking it was about 4 hours to the finish from there.

I set off, feeling like the route to Col des Montets was more uphill than I had remembered. It was as close as I got to cool all day, even by the river in Vallorcine, I still had the joys of a very clammy top…

After a brief stop to change torch battery, I was ready for the final climb (in two parts). I had seen BMMC woman again on the first part but concluded it was time to push on a bit more quickly

Petra had mentioned to me previously that the route from here was different to my UTMB experience, climbing half way to Flegere before dropping down and then resuming a climb. I had consciously reccied it in the week before the race, but on tired legs the descent from the mid peak at Bechar was even more unpleasant than I had remembered it, and there was swearing from a number of us as we battled to stay upright. Finally I emerged from the downhill pain and celebrated with some disintegrating frozen banana, before the final final climb, initially reasonably level, before a series of steep switch backs accessed into a ski slope and a climb up a red run to the final CP at Flegere. I felt I had worked quite hard on this leg and was a little disappointed to see it had taken me over 3 hours to manage the 7 miles (almost 1000m) to Flegere. As is traditional I had some coke (2 ½ cups) although my mouth was still too dry to deal with the equally traditional celebratory chocolate cookie, most of which ended up in the bin.

Sticking with the no faff plan, I set out on the final descent as dawn was breaking, giving a beautiful view of the mountains, although the top half is very rooty and requires full concentration to stay upright. I actually got to the Floria refuge, which signals the start of easier terrain, a little quicker than I expected, so decided to celebrate by running most of the rest of the wide gravelly downhill track to the road on the outskirts of Chamonix, safe in the knowledge that if I cramped up again here, I would find a way….. As planned, Sophie (complete with goat bell – smaller than the cow variety) was waiting for me at the temporary bridge. The runner in front of me decided to dispense with the bridge, so I followed and then had the joy of running in with Soph to the finish around 7:30 on a Saturday morning, marred only by her full length trip – I realised something was amiss when her phone overtook me…. I was searching my conscience when I heard her shout keep going, so I carried on running to the finish, where Petra and my ski friend Em were waiting, with Sophie not far behind with a hole in her knee and jacket.

I was happy to finish and come out the other end of the cramping issues, and to have now finished all three of the longer UTMB solo races. Despite the hydration challenges, I definitely preferred this year’s warmth and dry terrain to last year’s cold and slippery version. Cold beer can taste very good at 8am on a Saturday morning.

[For those interested, I went with my Hoka Mafate 4s and was happy with my choice]

Results

Evensplits Leeds 5k – Wed 28 Aug

Wed 28 Aug 2024

From Alison Weston…

I had my first experience of 5K EvenSplits at the Brownlee Centre last week.

As I warmed up it seemed a very flat course but during the race it seemed to have a climb in it! Matthew was way ahead of the field right from the start and Geoff cruised past me looking strong just before the start of the 3rd lap and had a great finish.

Results

Matthew Thackwray 1st 15:24

Geoff Howard 95th 24:31

Alison Weston 97th 25:09

ETC by UTMB – Tue 27 Aug

Tue 27 Aug 2024

From Petra Bijsterveld…

Having spent UTMB week in the Chamonix Valley last year I was keen to return to this trail running festival. Whatever you think about UTMB (and there are plenty of grounds for criticism), they sure know how to organise a big running event with a brilliant vibe. I decided I would rather be a participant than a pure spectator so I entered the ETC race, which stands for Experience Trail Courmayeur. The shortest race in the UTMB week, it is a 15km circuit with 1267 meters of elevation, starting and finishing in Courmayeur, just over the border from Chamonix, in Italy’s Aosta Valley. It is marketed as a good introduction to trail running in the mountains and at the same time it is a fast and furious race, particularly at the front end. Nothing fast and furious about my running of course, and I had worried a bit in advance about the undoubted congestion on the course, with 1200 runners on 15kms of largely single-track paths it would be busy, which is not really my thing, especially on the downhills where I tend to be significantly slower than the majority.

We were taken to Courmayeur on coaches leaving Chamonix from 10am, it involved quite a long wait in the queue to get to the Mont Blanc Tunnel (though this would pale into insignificance compared to the return journey later) but by 11 I was in Courmayeur with 3 hours to kill before the 2pm race start. Thankfully the weather was very nice and I spent it first drinking coffee outside a cafe and then writing and sending some postcards, seeing I found a shop selling cards as well as postage stamps, and with a handy post box on the shop front. After dropping off my bag at the bag store I passed some time in the inevitable toilet queue which to be fair wasn’t bad at all, and then made my way into my starting wave pen. I must say I wasn’t really feeling ‘it’ whatever ‘it’ is as we were awaiting the countdown. I felt I could just as easily have spent the rest of the afternoon on that cafe terrace. Maybe I was still a bit tired from the journey here at the weekend, a bit undertrained, not acclimated to the altitude yet, feeling the aftermath of a dental abscess and a week of antibiotics which I had not even finished yet. And it was warm, really quite hot. This not being an ultra I knew there would be little chance of taking it particularly easy. Not that I was going to be in any hurry, but when the trails are congested you kind of have to keep up with the general pace once you have found your spot in the train of runners which moves ever upwards. Normally ascents are my relative strong point but it wasn’t to be on this race. I had to step off the path 3 times and sit down as I was near fainting. It’s happened to me before so I know that eventually it passes but it was unpleasant and lost me quite a bit of time, not that that particularly mattered. All I cared about was making it round without the embarrassment of becoming some medical emergency! My nutrition and hydration including electrolytes was all in order so perhaps it was mainly the altitude bothering me. And it was hot! My t-shirt was so wet I thought my soft-flasks must be leaking, until I had to conclude it was all just sweat. Eventually I started to feel better, we reached the top, or thought we had until there was more to climb (isn’t there always!?) and the views of Mont Blanc were absolutely stupendous. Though I should say they had been pretty good from the cafe back down in Courmayeur too! But hey, drinking coffee doesn’t earn you a medal or the satisfaction of having raced. So having finally reached the highest point the other challenge started, descending for miles where I constantly had to let people pass as I am a slow descender. By alpine standards this is not a technical race but there were still plenty of tree roots and rocks to potentially stumble over. Anyway, I made it down in one piece with lots of stops to let other runners fly by. Not having studied the course profile in enough depth (the unwise ‘it’s only 15km, up a mountain and down again’ attitude) I had failed to spot the inevitable upwards sting in the tail in the last mile. I don’t think I was the only one feeling almost outfaced by this final ascent, some runners around me looked like they wanted to cry! A final few bends down a tarmac little road and I was back at the finish after 3 hours and 39 minutes, 911th out of 1183 finishers, and 6th out of 11 in my age category. Nothing to particularly write home about (but I am writing this anyway!) but I was happy enough with the result.

I was surprised how hard I found it and wondered how I had ever run the 100km CCC here last year. I guess like with any race, a lot of it is in one’s head and if you know you are only running 15k that’s what you are focussed on. There was an enormous queue for the post race snacks so I decided to head straight down to the sports centre where we had to catch the coach back to Chamonix, and instead bought some snacks from a small shop on the way. Good thing I did considering I was nowhere near home yet and I had eaten everything I had brought with me. I was on a coach that left Courmayeur at 6:15pm, sadly the queue for the tunnel was so bad that it took until 8pm for us to reach the entrance of the tunnel, it’s probably only about a mile, and we were plain stationary for most of the time! Finally we reached Chamonix well after 8pm where the coach driver, for reasons probably only known to himself, proceeded straight past the car park which had been the morning’s pick-up point and where many of us were parked, and headed down into central Chamonix. Upon which those of us with cars in the car park had to ask him to return us there, especially as it was tipping it down with rain now and no one fancied a 15 minute walk back in that weather. A minor irritation perhaps but not ideal after a rather long day out. Anyway, my medal and a nice post-race glow, as well as a cold beer in the fridge in my apartment back in Vallorcine made up for all that.

Results

Ilkley Gazette Report – w/c 26 August

Mon 26 Aug 2024

[Picture by Dave Woodhead: Gawain Moore at the start of the Burnsall Classic Fell Race]

From Will Worboys…

Harriers shine on road, track and fell

On a quiet weekend in terms of local racing for the Ilkley Harriers, there was no rest for the prolific Gawain Moore. Moore has rarely missed a mention in this weekly summary, featuring in regular fell races since joining the Harriers.

This weekend was the Burnsall Sports Classic Fell Race. A full-blooded mile and a half excursion up to the 1,266-foot peak of Burnsall Fell and back to the village, the race is one of the oldest fell races on record dating back to 1903! Well known for being a killer climb and just as tough the steep rocky technical descent.

Moore put in a typically strong performance to finish the race in 8th position in a time of 17:50, around two and half minutes behind the winner who was Tom Bell of Nidderdale.

Meanwhile in Merseyside on Saturday morning, the ultra-distance specialist Matthew Kennedy was beginning the extreme challenge of running the entire 130 miles of the Leeds-Liverpool canal. This was a race in which 93 athletes started the largely flat route along the iconic towpath; but the fact that just 52 of those finished demonstrated the extreme endurance skills needed for such a distance. Kennedy made the finish inside 24 hours at around 5:15am on Sunday to impressively come 3rd overall.

On the same day Harriers legend and multiple club-record holder Geoff Howard took part in the Leeds Golden Mile time trial, which took place at the running track at Leeds Beckett. Howard was the only Ilkley athlete present and came home in a phenomenal time of 7:38, which as it turned out was the fastest recorded mile time in his age group (V80) in Britain this year so far! Despite this Geoff was still not entirely satisfied, believing himself to be capable of quicker.

Away from northern England, two young Ilkley speed-demons put in excellent performances at the Podium Home Nations 5K in Cardiff. Ed Hobbs and Archie Budding made the trip to South Wales and pitted themselves against some top athletes. Budding finished 5th in his category in an excellent time of 15:18, while Hobbs made a big PB of 15:26, despite the 5K being shorter than his usual specialist distances.

At the other end of the scale in terms of terrain and also in terms of seniority, three Harriers took on their annual challenge of the epic Ilkley Skyline. Mike Williams, Andrew Smith and Nigel Illingworth bettered their time from last year but were still some way off the course record. The epic 22-mile challenge which starts and finishes at the Hermit Pub at Burley Woodhead is a circular route along the top of Rombalds Moor, down through Addingham, then back up to Beamsley Beacon and Round Hill before a daring river crossing at the Burley stepping-stones and back to the Hermit for refreshments.

There were some brilliant performances at the Saturday morning parkruns with a succession of Harriers being first finishers. Alex Foyn defeated the hills of Cliffe Castle to finish first whilst Natalie Gravett-Foyn was 3rd female at the same event. Harriers also dominated at Hockgraben in Germany where Alexander Wolfenden and Rachel Carter both came first in their respective gender categories. Jack Wood continued his fine form whilst being back home finishing first at Roberts Park and Samesh Chotai was also first at Skipton.

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.

Leeds Golden Mile – Sat 24 Aug

Sat 24 Aug 2024

From Geoff Howard…

A couple of weeks earlier in the year than usual, the Leeds Beckett University track at Carnegie hosted the annual Leeds Golden Mile time trial on the afternoon of Saturday 24 August.

Conducted in traditional 1950s Roger Bannister, Iffy Road Oxford, style with starting pistol and three time keepers holding stop watches, ten races were run during the afternoon with an average of about ten competitors in each. The first four were all for under 17 year old runners with runs five to ten for progressively quicker over 16 year old runners. One under 16 girl, Madison Kinder of Brentwood Beagles, ran the ninth fastest time of the day in 5m 3s being the fastest women and outrunning ten of the fastest adults in heats nine and ten – surely a name to look out for!

If I had been in her heat she would easily have lapped me with my disappointing 7m 38s (7m 14s last year and 7m 31s during a 5k park run in March). To my surprise it was the quickest age group time in the country this year but, there again, there are only two other times listed by runbritain. This fact, together with me being the only Harrier at the meet, goes to illustrate that a mile on the track just isn’t (surprisingly to me) a popular race these days despite its iconic status in the athletics world.

Fastest man: Luke Shacklock, Harrogate AC, 4m 39.5s

LLCR 130 – Sat 24 Aug

Sat 24 Aug 2024

From Matthew Kennedy…

If the marriage of UTMB and Ironman brought new levels of hype to the world of trail running – ‘Meet your extraordinary!’ – the message never reached the tiny but well-established canal running community in Britain, whose races began in the 1990s and whose website still proudly suggests, ‘Set your expectation to low, and then halve it!’

Perhaps it was that sense of humour which got me to the start line – on a random pavement in Liverpool at 6am – but it quickly became clear that the 130 miles* to Leeds were no joke. Although there were only 1,100 feet of climbing, that almost felt like a disadvantage, with just the occasional bridge or lock to break up the relentless flat running (almost five marathons back-to-back).

Fortunately, we were to get lucky with the weather. The ‘heat spike’ of a few weeks ago would have been a disaster, and although Storm Lilian had deposited a fair amount of debris on the towpath (which did apparently lead to one runner taking an unexpected dip), conditions were cool and calm all the way, with the exception of half an hour of heavy rain later on.

Then, as a canal running newbie, I had opted for a 25-minute run / 5-minute walk strategy I found on the Internet. Although it felt unnatural at first, it brought some structure to the race, breaking it into manageable blocks that gave me a regular chance to refuel and rest my legs a little. So it was that Liverpool gave way to green fields and villages until we reached Wigan, then this pattern of alternating town and country repeated itself through Chorley, Blackburn, Accrington (halfway), Burnley, Nelson and Barnoldswick, until I reached Skipton at around midnight and 100 miles in.

Shortly afterwards, my secret weapon emerged out of the darkness in the form of ‘buddy runner’ Ritchie Williamson, coming the opposite way along the towpath from Silsden. By this point I was moving pretty slowly, maybe weaving around occasionally, and certainly lacking the spare energy to make conversation, so I can’t thank Ritchie enough for offering to pull an all-nighter and run a marathon to accompany me on the home stretch.

Although it was a great feeling to reach Leeds not long after 5:15am, then enjoy the sunrise with a mug of tea, the pounding of the towpath left both of us thinking we might stick to the hills in the future. That said, we were chatting to volunteers and other finishers who had all run multiple different canals, so never say never I suppose…

(* Aficionados will know that the Leeds and Liverpool Canal is only 127 1/4 miles long – a fact hammered home by each and every white mile post on the towpath – but we did a little bonus distance at the start, plus two quite lengthy detours where the canal passes through tunnels.)

Results

(1 Vin Baker 22h40)

3 Matthew Kennedy 23h18

93 starters, 52 finishers

Ilkley Gazette Report – w/c 19 August

Mon 19 Aug 2024

[Vince Gibbons celebrating his big birthday at the Robert’s Park parkrun]

From Jean Sullivan…

A win on the hills for Ilkley Harriers!

Jack Wood, retaining his fine form, stormed round the course to win the Sedburgh Hills fell race this week. Now in its 44th year, this challenging 14-mile race, features 6000ft of ascent over the Howgill fells. The course features several checkpoints with very good navigation skills required by all runners. Jack, leading from the start, won the race in a great time of 2:22:49. He was followed by fellow Harrier Paul Carman who also had a great run. Jann Smith was the third Harrier home and an impressive seventh lady overall.

Roundhay Park, one of the largest city parks in Europe, was host to the Leeds Running Festival this weekend, with monies raised going to St. Gemma’s Hospice. Race distances of 5km, 10km and a half marathon were available to run, with Harrier Jane McCarthy choosing the 10km route. She had a fantastic run on this two-lap multi-terrain course and was the third lady over the line, taking first prize in her age category. Jane’s speedy time of 43:49 meant that she finished in an impressive 25th place overall out of a field of over 500 runners.

There was a first-place finish for Harrier Tom Adams this weekend at the Old Railway Trail parkrun in Wales, with Tom completing the course in a great time of 16:06, almost two minutes faster than the second-place finisher. Lots of other Harriers managed top ten finishing places at various parkruns this weekend, including; Dave Foyston, Steven Gott, Adam Gerrish, Mark Hall and Harry Stead.

Ilkley Harriers were on tour this weekend, trying various parkrun locations for the first time. These included; Rachel Corrigan at the Bournemouth parkrun, David Singleton & Matthew Snow at the Harrogate parkrun, Adam Gerrish at the Temple Newsam parkrun, Nick Helliwell at Newby Bridge, Natalie Gravett-Foyn at the Tooting Common parkrun, Florence Haines at the Dinton Pastures parkrun and Geoff Howard at the Maryport Prom parkrun.

Vince Gibbons, enjoying his big birthday, had a great run at the Robert’s Park parkrun, to celebrate entering his new racing age categor

Sedbergh Hills Fell race – Sun 18 Aug

Sun 18 Aug 2024

From Jann Smith…

At 14 miles and with 6,000 feet of climbing this is a real toughie with a lot of steep ups and downs and a bit navigationally tricky on pathless tussocks on the Howgill Fells.

A great win for Jack Wood visiting home from Switzerland and leading from the start.

Results

1 Jack Wood 2hr 22

56 Paul Carman 3hr 21

70 Jann Smith 3hr 42 (7th Lady)

Ilkley Gazette Report – w/c 12 August

Mon 12 Aug 2024

[Saturday proved a busy day for Jaysson Sawyer, photo courtesy of Dave Woodhead]

From Jean Sullivan…

More great results for the Harriers on the summer race scene this week!

With the BOFRA (British Open Fell Run Association) calendar of races in full swing, Ilkley Harriers were well represented at two of them this week. Most of the BOFRA races are derived from the traditional ‘guide’ races and tend to be short, steep and challenging, but are easily viewed by spectators as they generally follow a direct course up and down the fell side.

The name ‘guide’ stems from the 18th century when visitors seeking to exercise used the knowledge of the local fellsmen to guide them over the mountainous terrain. In their spare time the guides had competitions among themselves racing to the top of the nearest fell and back!

For those who enjoy a mid-week summer race, the King’s Challenge fell race took place. This six-miler, with 1,175ft of climbing, is organised by Wharfedale Harriers. It starts at the King’s Arms pub in Silsden and goes onto the moor via Silsden Nab End, to the trig point at Long Ridge End and back along the same route, to finish at the bandstand in Silsden.

Despite heavy rain being forecast, the evening was relatively warm and dry, with only those at the tail end of the race having to endure some rain. Ilkley Harrier Steven Gott was the first Harrier over the line in a great time of 50:50, with Steven taking third prize in his age category. Hot on his heels was Dave Robson, in 51:14, this speedy time meaning that Dave finished first in his age category. Samesh Chotai was the third Harrier to complete the course, taking third place in his age category. Ilkley ladies also impressed, with Jane McCarthy continuing her fine form to take an age category win – and also the third lady to finish overall. Harriers George Whittlestone, Tom Mountain, David Singleton, Matthew Snow and Nigel Illingworth also had great runs at this event.

Two Harriers also took part in the second BOFRA race of the week, the Arncliffe Gala fell race. This 1.6-mile course, with 400ft of ascent, saw Harrier Jaysson Sawyer finish in the top third of the race, completing the course in a speedy 16:09, with Katie Poulter just behind with a finishing time of 16:28, meaning she took third place in her age category.

A warm up for some, including Jaysson, a four-mile road race takes place prior to the Arncliffe fell race, the Littondale Fete ‘4’. This race follows a scenic route along the back roads of Littondale. Four Harriers took part, with excellent results all round. Jaysson led the Harriers home, finishing in a superb 17th place in a great time of 25:47. He was followed by David Singleton, with Matthew Snow the third Harrier over the line; impressive considering both had completed the King’s Challenge fell race earlier in the week. Sally Malir also had a great run, taking first prize in her age category.

Continuing on the ‘shorter’ routes theme, lots of Harriers turned out to take part in the nation’s weekly timed 5km parkrun series this weekend. As if two races on one day wasn’t enough, Jaysson Sawyer used the Fountain’s Abbey parkrun as a warm up for the two other races he completed later on Saturday! Jaysson had a great result, finishing in 13th place overall. Harrier David Foyston also impressed on the parkrun scene this weekend, finishing in an impressive third place at the Heslington parkrun.

Ilkley Harriers is a friendly welcoming club, open to all. If you would like to try our training sessions, please come along to our main club night on Tuesdays, by signing up on the training page at www.ilkleyharriers.org.uk

King’s Challenge Fell Race – Thu 8 Aug

Thu 8 Aug 2024

From Jane McCarthy…

Wharfedale Harriers organise this low key mid-week evening fell race, starting from the rugby pitches in Silsden. It’s an out-and-back course up to the trig on Addingham High Moor. The race covers 6 miles and 1175ft of climbing, and the course record is a mind boggling 39:59 from 2016 by local Wharfedale athlete James Hall.

There were nine Ilkley Harriers in attendance – a good showing out of 77 runners. I was lucky to see Nigel Illingworth before the start, warming up he showed me the route approx.. 1 mile out and back from the start/finish which I had heard wasn’t easy to find if on your own. This was absolutely right, and on the return from the trig there were a fair few runners approaching gates and stiles from multiple directions. The lady that had been in front of me appeared at the end a good minute or so behind, having followed a couple of runners the wrong way at a farm.

Given the low key nature of the race, a £5 (yes, a fiver) entry fee and the fact the race is an out and back and the route clearly map marked on the website there shouldn’t be too much complaining though. Plenty of beer and wine for age category winners. Steve Gott was first Harrier home in 50:50. A lovely way to spend a Summer’s early evening – and nice and local – I would recommend this race.

Results

(1. Craig Shearer, 43:01, West Yorkshire Fire Service)

18. Steve Gott 50:50

21. Dave Robson 51:14 (1st MV50_

26. Samesh Chotai 52:13

34. George Whittlestone 54:17

36. Tom Mountain 54:26

38. Jane McCarthy 57:16 (3rd lady 1st LV50)

50. David Singleton 59:37

60. Matthew Snow 69:33

71. Nigel Illingworth 76:43

77 finishers

Ilkley Gazette Report – w/c 5 August

Mon 5 Aug 2024

[Sam Bentham on his way to winning the BOFRA race at the weekend, photo courtesy of Geoff Thompson]

From Will Worboys…

Young gun’s turn to shine on the fells

This week has been very much about the next generation of fell runner for the Ilkley Harriers. With up-and-coming star Sam Bentham taking centre-stage, perhaps inspired by clubmate and English fell champion Ben Rothery’s heroics last week. Bentham showed his class by winning one senior race this weekend and finishing second in another, at the age of just 17.

The win for the young Harrier came on Sunday at Farleton Knott, a BOFRA Championship race in South Cumbria. The short, sharp but tough 2.6-mile race which took place in the hills north west of Kirkby Lonsdale, saw Bentham superbly attack the 750 feet of uphill to finish 10 seconds ahead of the athlete in second place in a time of 19.03. There were 96 finishers in total.

Earlier in the week had been the Eshton Moor race in which Bentham had finished in a strong second place behind Andrew Cairns of Wharfedale Harriers. The Thursday evening race five-mile cross country event, which took place near Gargrave, also attracted two other slightly more experienced Ilkley runners. Prolific on the fells, Gawain Moor put in an excellent shift to finish seventh. While Dave Robson wasn’t much further back in 20th of the 66 finishers and bagging 3rd MV50.

Meanwhile closer to home another Ilkley Harrier Nick Kealey put in a great effort to come home in third place on Sunday’s Round Hill fell race. The 8.5 mile run is a figure of eight route across Blubberhouses Moor, starting and finishing close to the village of Timble. Several other Harriers put in good performances; Jonny McKenny was in fifth place, Dan McKeown was 11th overall and 2nd MV45, Rachel Carter was 2nd LV45, Jane McCarthy was 1st LV50 and Geoffrey White finished 3rd MV40.

On Saturday four Harriers made the trip to the Lakes to take on the 50th anniversary event of the challenging Borrowdale fell race. This year 218 competitors tackled the brutal 27-kilometre route, which took in peaks including Scafell Pike and Great Gable. The first Harrier home was Paul Carman finishing in a time of 4:23 hrs. Next was Martin Hartley in 4:29 hrs. Katie Poulter had a very good run to finish as seventh W40 in 5 hrs and Alison Weston was just behind her in 5:02 hrs for an impressive fourth W50.

On the road Ilkley was represented by Joanne Williamson at the York 10K. Nearly 5,000 runners took part in the race which is part of the Jane Tomlinson series. Williamson put in an excellent run to finish as 94th female in a time of 48:17 which was also personal best.

Finally at the nation’s 5K parkruns on Saturday, the most success was had by Harriers at Myrtle Park Bingley with Nick Kealey warming up for Round Hill by being first finisher. Harry Sime also came fifth at the same event. Elsewhere Geoffrey Howard made a successful return to Skipton after some time off from parkrun and managed well over 80% for his age score. Mark Hall was third at Heslington and Steve Coy finished fourth at Clitheroe Castle.

York 10k – Sun 4 Aug

Sun 4 Aug 2024

From Joanne Williamson…

A stunning day spent in York that started with the York 10K, then I soaked up the atmosphere and cheered other runners on and then headed for lunch in York.

The 10K race started at the racecourse and then went through the city, past the Minster and then back along the river to the racecourse. A very flat, fast course!

I achieved my 10K PB 48:17

Results

Round Hill Fell Race – Sun 4 Aug

Sun 4 Aug 2024

From Nick Kealey…

Photo credit Steve Davey

My first time running this local fell race over Blubberhouse Moor. An 8.7 mile route starting and finishing outside Timble village.

Weather conditions were fine and generally good running under foot, apart from the usual bogs to jump that frequent this part of the moor. First through the finish was Fraser Arnott after a great run. Unfortunately, Fraser missed the 3rd checkpoint along with the second finisher so were both disqualified. The race for what became the top 4 finishers was fiercely fought with just 29 secs between them. I managed to hang on to 3rd place.

A great turn out and results for the Harriers with age category podium finishes for Nick Kealey, Dan McKeown, Rachel Carter, Jane McCarthy and Geoffrey White. Special mention for 5th finisher Jonny McKenny on Harriers debut with a very strong run despite stopping twice for shoelace issues! Fantastic tea and cake on sale at the Timble village hall at the end was well supported with proceeds from this and the race going to Brain Tumour Research and Support and a local leukaemia charity.

(1 – Jonathan Coney – North Leeds FR)

3 – Nick Kealey (1st MV45)

5 – Jonny McKenny

11 – Dan McKeown (2nd MV45)

20 – Charles Wain

22 – Luke Watkeys

25 – Tommy Mountain

27 – Rachel Carter (2nd LV45)

29 – Jane McCarthy (1st LV50)

56 – Geoffrey White (3rd MV40)

Pig on the Hill Backyard Ultra – Sat 3 Aug

Sat 3 Aug 2024

From Petra Bijsterveld…

I had a go at my first ever backyard ultra this weekend. For those unfamiliar with the concept: the backyard ultra is a form of ultra race where competitors must consecutively run laps (called ’yards’) of 4.167 miles in under one hour, starting a new lap on the hour, every hour. If you are not in the starting pen when the hour ticks over you are out. If you don’t get back from your lap in time, you are also out. The somewhat odd-looking distance makes sense when you realise 24 laps make 100 miles. The race is over when only one runner remains to complete a lap.

I entered the Pig on the Hill backyard Ultra Wales, organised by Pen Llyn Ultra on the Llyn Peninsula in North Wales, knowing that it is held on a course with substantial elevation (around 600 ft per lap) and that it is regarded as one of the hardest if not the hardest backyard course in the UK. I had decided to run it as a training run as I am not a peak fitness. The course was actually even harder than I expected so in the end I stopped after 6 laps which is 25 miles, this was plenty for me on the day. I really enjoyed it though, the scenery was great and we had fantastic weather. I have written it up in my blog here if you are interested in reading more and seeing some photos. 70 runners took part and the race was won by backyard ultra legend Iain Bethune who ran 28 laps which was a new course record. I was 57th. I did really like the backyard format and think I could possibly do much better on an easier course so I will definitely try and do another one at some point.

Results

Borrowdale Fell Race – Sat 3 Aug

Sat 3 Aug 2024

From Alison Weston…

Four Harriers took part in the 50th anniversary of the Borrowdale fell race on Saturday which saw 218 runners complete the course.

A brutal 27 km route with 2000 m climbing over Bessy Boot, Scafell Pike, Great Gable and Dalehead with some exciting descents en route and quite a bit of route choice in places (not so successful in my case!)

Paul Carman was first Harrier back in 4:23 hrs (93rd) followed by Martin Hartley in 4:29 (107th).

Katie Poulter had a great race on her first Borrowdale race to finish in 5.00 hrs (165th) followed by Alison Weston in 5:02 hrs (169th).