REPORT BY: WILL WORBOYS

SEVERAL intrepid Harriers were among the 411 athletes who made the trip to Cumbria to take part in the High Cup Nick fell race on Saturday.

A spectacular amphitheatre of volcanic rock near the Eden Valley, High Cup Nick is three miles from Dufton along the Pennine Way. Raising money for the upkeep of the Dufton village hall, the race takes in nine miles of challenging terrain and around 1,800 feet of punishing ascent.

This includes some perilous-looking rocky scrambling and a long descent down to the finish on the village green. The first Ilkley runner to finish was Gavin Lamb who crossed the line in 58th place and a time of 1hr 18:42. He was very closely followed by Ben Sheppard in 1hr 19:27. Kate Archer had another excellent run to finish as 17th female and 3rd VF40 in a time of 1hr 31:12. Other impressive runs were had by Charles Wain (1hr 31:06) and Alison Weston (1hr 43:42). The race was won by Tim Lamont of Helm Hill in 1hr and 12 seconds.

Further afield was Matthew Kennedy who produced an incredible performance to finish in the top 100 of the 126km Classic at Transgrancanaria in the Canary Islands. To give that some context it’s one of the top ultrarunning races of the year - superstar American Courtney Dauwalter won the women’s race this year and was 13th overall. Matthew and all the other runners faced tough conditions after the midnight start but thankfully things improved and he traversed the island from north to south - overcoming a range of different terrain - in just under 20 hours.

A little closer to home in the Yorkshire Dales, four more representatives from Ilkley enjoyed the Settle 10 mile road race. Despite being part of the ‘Grim Up North’ series this race took place in glorious sunshine, leaving some of the runners who had prepared for a winter run feeling a little over-dressed. The event follows an out and back route from Settle through Ribblesdale and attracted 33 participants. The emphasis here was definitely on quality of the athletes rather than quantity. Jane McCarthy managed a superb run to come fifth overall and second female in a time of 1hr 09:25. Following in third female was Rebecca Mon-Williams in 1hr 19:54. Jean Sullivan and Sarah Hayes also managed excellent times of 1hr 25:51 and 1hr 30:49 respectively.

With the unfortunate cancellation of the National cross country championship due to flooding, all local mud lovers’ eyes turned to the fifth race in this winter’s PECO cross-country series, which took place at Roundhay Park on Sunday. With only the relay event still left to take place, the cross-country season is now drawing to a close. The popular event attracted nearly 700 of the region's muddiest pairs of running shoes and followed a course which was just under five miles in length.

Ilkley Harriers sent a strong team, with the best-placed finish coming from Ruth Kitchen, who was ninth in the Female race in a time of 33:53. Keeping it in the family, Diane Kitchen again performed impressively to finish third in the V60 category. Sally Wright also made a promising return to racing after some time off with health issues; reaping the rewards of her recent dedication to regular club training sessions.

In the men’s race James Horrex was the first Harrier, finishing in 20th place and a time of 30.11. He was closely followed by Dan McKeown who claimed 1st place in the V45 category. Other speedy runs were had by Forrest Hamilton (32:29), Jaysson Sawyer (33:11), Thomas Mountain (34.44), Adam Gerrish (35:01) and David Singleton (36:43). With Robert Singleton impressively also managing 2nd placed V65.

At the weekly 5K Saturday parkruns Alison Bennett scored an amazing 88% age graded score with a time of 22:17 and finishing as third female at Lister Park. Age grading is an adjustment made to a competitor's time to compare it to the world record for their age and gender (100% being the world record), creating a more level playing field for all who take part. Another with a phenomenal age graded score was Geoffrey Howard who managed over 83% for a time of 24:50 at Skipton. As well as Diane Kitchen who scored 80% at Roberts Park. While Hilda Coulsey was 9th female at Portrush in Northern Ireland, posting an age graded score of 81%. With these age scores being the basis for the current inter-club championship also involving Baildon Runners and Saltaire Striders, there are several Harriers currently in very strong positions in their league table.

Elsewhere at parkrun, Jane McCarthy warmed up for the previously mentioned Settle 10 by not taking it easy at all and finishing second female at Harrogate; posting her best time yet at that event. At Roberts Park Alexander Wolfenden, Alex Foyn, Nick Kealey, Robert Carter and Adam Gerrish finished 5th, 6th, 7th, 9th and 10th all very speedily and all well under 19 minutes. At the same event Nicole Liptrot was third female lowering her PB and Natalie Gravett-Foyn was seventh female. At Myrtle Park, Harry Brook-Dobson was 6th overall and Jacqui Foster finished 7th female. Fiona Schneider was 8th female at Armley. David Foyston and Robert Cunningham both came 2nd; at Heslington and Druridge Bay respectively.