REPORT BY: JILL EZARD

IT was the ever-popular Manchester marathon last Sunday, with five Harriers posting great results over this flat and fast course.

The weather conditions were perfect with cool temperatures and a light breeze as participants lined up under the Trafford Arch ready to run through the city centre and out to Altrincham and back.

Phil Joyner was the first Harrier over the line in a fantastic 3:25:34 just ahead of Marc Westerman and Tony Pye who completed the race in 3:28:25 and 3:29:23 respectively, both achieving marathon PBs.

Marie Watson was the only female Harrier taking part and had a superb run finishing in 3:50:17, another PB, followed by Iain Young in his first marathon posting a fabulous 3:54:50 despite suffering with a knee injury.

Closer to home, Tuesday saw the second event in the Bunny Run series with 160 runners turning out despite quite challenging conditions underfoot and very high winds. The series takes place around Easter and consists of three races. Described as a fast and furious dash around the same three-mile course, participants are encouraged to enter all three events to score points to be in with the chance to win series prizes.

There were some great performances from the juniors with three runners in the top 15. Rachel Carter was the first senior over the line in 22:25 taking second place in her age category. Richard Joel was just behind in 23:02. Completing the Harriers participants, Jann Smith had a fantastic run taking first place in her age category in 25:57.

And in another event known for its potential for super-fast performances, three Harriers went over to York on Friday to take part in the Evensplits 5k event at the University of York Sport Village Cycle Circuit. A series of races from February to November, participants are again encouraged to try and improve their time over the series.

Matthew Thackwray was the first Harrier over the line in 15:48 taking second place in his age category with a superb 84.4% age grading. Next in was Helen Waddington in 22:43, taking third place in her age category. Hilda Coulsey ran a superb time of 25:04 landing an age grading of 85.2%.

Back on the trails, two intrepid Harriers took to the fells in the Lake District, tackling the ominous sounding Eskdale Elevation. Starting from Boot village in Eskdale, this 13-mile event takes in 4771 feet of ascent and is a traditional race with limited checkpoints requiring effective navigation and route choice, without the aid of GPS devices.

The route takes competitors up Whin Rigg and Scafell finishing past Eel Tarn. Steve Turland was the first Harrier home in a superb 17th place in 3:13:05 being pipped to second in his age category by only ten seconds. Katie Poulter also had a superb run taking fourth place in 4:26:54.

On a more undulating course, Jessica Summers took part in the Run Yorkshire 10k at Roundhay on Sunday. Taking in some of the beautiful scenery including parkland, woodland, gardens and of course the climb to the Mansion house, this multi terrain two lap course has something for everyone.

Summers had a great race completing the event in 1:15:08.

And finally, Ilkley’s park runners were out in force with 30 taking to the weekly events across the country. There were some superb top ten finishes for Mark Hall, Jane McCarthy, Rob Budding, Sarah Hayes (in a PB time for this event), Samesh Chotai, Rob Cunningham and Adam Gerrish. And there were other notable achievements: At the Rothwell event, Martin Stubbs posted a PB time; in Lister Park, Mark Hall achieved an age grading of 87.76%; and Vince Gibbons completed his 50th parkrun at Roberts Park. Congratulations to everyone who took part.