REPORT BY: JEAN SULLIVAN

IT was a tale of two marathons for the Ilkley Harriers over the weekend.

Of course, on Sunday saw the staging of the 44th TCS London Marathon with a record number of participants taking part, including nine Ilkley Harriers.

The day was dry and bright as they lined up at the start with incredible results all round.  John Hayes led the Harriers home, finishing in a fantastic time of 3:18:40. 

Steve Newell (3:23:33) and Derek Oliver (3:23:53) also managed sub 3:30 finishes. Heidi Hoad led the Ilkley ladies home in 4:14:02, with Sarah Hayes the second Ilkley lady home in a PB time of 4:20:29. 

Lucy Lowe also had a great run, crossing the line in 4:36:26.  David Howe, Jon Nelson and Geoff Howard also did the Harriers proud at this event.

Meanwhile, as the London Marathon was in full swing, Sally Armitage was running the Blackpool Marathon, held as part of the Blackpool Festival of Running.  This two-lap course along the seafront saw Sally not only complete the course in an amazing 3:07:09, but she also set a new club record for the marathon, beating the previous FV45 record by 17 seconds.

Off-road and there were two outstanding performances by Harriers as the Yorkshire men's team took the silver medal at the Inter-Counties Mountain Running Championships on the fells above Keswick.

The standard could hardly have been higher as the race incorporated the 2024 British Athletics Up-and-Down Trial Race for the Senior 2024 European Off-Road Running Championships in Annecy in June. The route was 16.3 km and featured 900m of climbing, following the Cumbrian Way before summiting Latrigg.

And Yorkshire champion Ben Rothery was the first White Rose counter (and fifth overall) in a staggering time of 1:07:06, with fellow Harrier Jack Cummings the second Yorkshire runner home in 17th place in 1:12:11. Scotland – North won the gold medal, eight points ahead of Yorkshire, with Derbyshire in third place.

Meanwhile the third run in the fast and furious Bunny Run Series took place this week.  This 3-mile course with 300ft of climbing sees runners complete a small Egg Stage loop, followed by a longer loop, with the incentive of all entrants receiving a crème egg.

Harrier Tom Adams finished in an impressive second place, in a speedy time of 16:46.  He was followed by junior Harrier Alexander Wolfenden in 17:17, with clubmate Oscar Shinn the third Harrier to finish in 17:57.  Rachel Carter, who has completed all races in the series, was the first Ilkley lady over the line in 21:33, which saw her taking third prize in her age category.  She was followed by Jann Smith in 24:29, for second place in her age category. 

Two Harriers took part in the interestingly named Teenager with Altitude fell race.  The route of this 15.3-mile race with a whopping 7,546ft of climbing covers the Newlands Valley Horseshoe, with runners having to visit 11 checkpoints including Robinson, Dale Head and Catbells. 

Kate Archer led the Harriers home in 4:17, taking third prize in her age category.  Jann Smith followed, completing the round in 4:37, which saw her again take second place in her age category.

Also on the fells, hardy fell runner Paul Carman completed a solo run of the Cumbrian Traverse.  This linear high-level route, which goes from the south to the north of the Lake District National Park, starts at Broughton in Furness and finishes in the popular town of Keswick, taking in 21 summits, including Coniston Old Man, Bowfell and Great Gable.  Paul completed this 31-mile challenge in 9hrs 52 minutes, an impressive time for this rocky and technically demanding course.

Also in Cumbria, Harrier Alison Weston took part in the Grisedale Grind, a 4km race which goes through Whinlatter Forest, with runners climbing 480m to the top of Grisedale Pike and descending to return to the finish line the same way. Alison took second place in her age category, running this short and very steep course in 40:34.

Cumbria remained popular with the Harriers this week, with Danny Thompson taking part in the Brigham 10km in Cockermouth, with all proceeds going to the local village school and every finisher receiving a clay medal made by the local school children.  This undulating road race saw Danny finish in an impressive seventh place in a speedy sub-40 time of 39:02, taking second prize in his age category.

A sunny spring Saturday morning enticed 40 Harriers to take part in various parkruns around the country, with a host of impressive results including for Stephen Coy who was the first finisher at the Bowling Park parkrun and Alison Bennett the second female finisher at the Lister Park parkrun.  Great running also by Samesh Chotai who was the third finisher at the Skipton parkrun and Nick Kealey who was the third finisher at the Robert’s Park parkrun.

And Gawain Moore completed his 50th parkrun by running at the Chevin Forest parkrun this weekend and Steve Murray claimed a PB at the Portrush parkrun.