REPORT BY: WILL WORBOYS

ILKLEY welcomed runners from far and wide for last Sunday’s half marathon, with an incredible 2002 runners completing the 13.1-mile race.

However, the Ilkley Harriers weren’t so generous to visitors in terms of finishing positions, bagging 1st and 3rd place for themselves plus the team prize; the Jim Read Trophy.

Participants for the event organised by the Ilkley Round Table, carried out a tour of Ilkley and Ben Rhydding while being cheered on by the large crowds who didn’t seem deterred by the damp conditions.

They then headed out to Addingham and Bolton Bridge. The runners then doubled back on the north side of the river through Nesfield and finishing on Denton Road. The annual race raises thousands of pounds for local causes, with many inspiring runners also raising money for their own nominated charities.

Ilkley’s Nathan Edmondson stamped his class on the race, winning in an amazing time and a new course record of 1:06:25; over a minute ahead of second placed Graham Rush of Leeds City AC.

Jack Cummings also had a storming run to finish 3rd in a PB time of 1:08:07. There wasn’t much in it during the first half of the race but Edmondson wore his rival down during the long gruelling home straight from Beamsley.

An impressive total of 80 Harriers completed the race, along with many other local and not so local runners excelling in the rain. Matthew Thackwray managed 7th place in 1:12:16 with the next two Harriers being Daniel Fazackerley and Samesh Chotai who came home in 32nd and 34th place.

The first lady was Coralie Bell of Hyde Park Harriers, with Rachel Carter the first Ilkley lady home in 10th and a time of 1:31:20; Followed by Alicia Howlett in 33rd and Natalie Gravatt-Foyn in 50th.

Some of the other stand out performances from Harriers in their categories included; John Hayes and Dave Robson finishing 11th and 15th in V50, Tom Lambe was 10th U23. Derek Oliver, Jonathan Sinclair, Martin Stubbs and Marc Westerman were 6th, 7th, 9th and 12th V60. Erin Keating was 17th V40, while Jane Thomas and Alison Weston were 22nd and 26th V50. Tony Pye also impressively made a course PB on his 50th birthday and finished 21st in his new category!

Away from the bustle of the Half Marathon there was more success for the Harriers with another local race on Thursday evening won by Oli Murphy.

The Beamsley Beacon fell race was took place in overcast conditions and attracted plenty of Harriers due to it being part of the club’s race league. Murphy completed the 5.5-mile course from St Peter’s church in Addingham to the top of the Beacon and back in an excellent time of just over 32 minutes.

In 2nd place was young Harrier Sam Bentham with another brilliant run to add to his collection. Ed Hobbs (10th), Jeff Green (12th), Gawain Moore (17th) and Oscar Shinn (18th) all managed superb top 20 finishes in the field of 114.

Up in the Lake District, three Harriers took on one of the ‘hardest fell races in the UK’ on Saturday.

Ilkley’s Ben Rothery finished in an impressive 2nd place in the Wasdale Horseshoe, with oddly enough, runners named Finlay in 1st and 3rd.

This race is an extremely challenging 21 miles and 9,000 feet of rough off-road terrain. The event includes peaks such as Scafell Pike, Great Gable and Pillar with some particularly wet weather making it even tougher.

This year it was a counter in the English fell championships so attracted a strong field of athletes. There were also excellent runs by Kate Archer who finished as 2nd FV45 and Jann Smith who was 2nd FV55. There was nobody else called Finlay amongst the other 226 finishers.

A shorter and lower profile fell race took place on Wednesday evening. With one Harrier making the trip to Todmorden for the Beater Clough fell race. Still a tough 7 miles in the Pennine hills taking in around 2,000 feet of ascent saw Thomas Mountain finishing in 12th position.

Meanwhile there was good news to report from the York Evensplits 5K on Friday night. Ilkley’s Harry Sime finally smashed the 20 minute barrier, finishing in a time of 19:52. Harry has been a regular at various 5K events for some time and has seen his times edge closer to the target but it has eluded him until this week!

Sticking with the 5K distance, this week’s parkrun’s produced several impressive performances. Jacqui Foster was 6th female at Lydney in the South West. Abigail Swales finished 10th at Macclesfield. Petra Bijsterveld was 9th at Myrtle Park Bingley.

Robert Carter was 5th and Adam Gerrish 9th at Chevin Forest. Finally Roberts Park was teeming with Harriers with both the Jeffing group and the new group for people with a learning disability enjoying away days there and posting some superb achievements, particularly Finn Thompson who completed his first 5K run.