REPORT BY: PETER SHELLEY

SATURDAY saw Harriers tackle rough conditions in the Lakes and Derbyshire over the weekend.

The Langdale Horseshoe Fell Race covered 21km and 1,450m of ascent on rocky terrain scaling the summits of Thunacarr Knott, Bowfell and Pike of Blisco in high winds and rain.

Rated AL (long and steep) by the Fell Racing Association, the race restricts entry to those with relevant experience and navigational skills, with mandatory kit requirements in force. Among the 240 finishers who rose to the challenge were Jack Gribbin finishing in 2:47:00 placing 39th and Gavin Lamb in 3:12:42 placing 99th.

Steve Turland contended with Saturday’s conditions for even longer to run Lakes in a Day, an annual 80km ultra race with 4,000m of ascent.

The route crosses the entire Lake District from Caldbeck in the north to Cartmel in the south passing via Blencathra, the Helvellyn range and the shores and hills west of Windermere. Calling on his considerable experience and resilience, Steve made the finish in 14:36:40, 54th of 218.

Extreme weather on the summit of Kirk Fell caused the Wasdale Show Fell Race to be shortened on safety grounds. Undeterred, Sam Bentham won convincingly in 15:51 to build on an already highly successful 2024 season as he moves into the senior category.

Ladybower Reservoir in the Peak District hosted two off-road endurance events at half marathon and ultra distances. Run over scenic but hilly and muddy trails, the 22k route with 520m of ascent saw Rumana Chowdhury finish in 3:03:41 to place 804/1034. The 52km route with 1,164m of ascent saw Martin Hartley finish in 05:30:56, 64th of 758. Crossing the line with Martin was Ritchie Williamson, adding to his successful 2024 roster of ultra and multi-day events. Congratulations are also due to Paul Sullivan who finished in 06:12:32 and Lucy Elliott in 07:17:28.

Five hardy Harriers tackled a similarly muddy Haworth Moor in the Withins Skyline race, Gawain Moore coming in 7th and top male vet 40, Tom Mountain 35th, Adam Gerrish 51st, Rachel Carter 53rd (2nd lady vet 40) and Duncan Cooper 77th of 170 finishers.

Sunday saw 5,598 runners including ten Harriers compete in the Abbey Dash. The largely flat 10k road route between Leeds city centre and Kirkstall Abbey combined with cool calm conditions to produce some fast times, among them Nathan Edmondson’s 29:57 which gained him an excellent 18th place. Jack Cummings bettered his previous times at this event, finishing 44th in 30:54. Ed Hobbs finished in 31:01 and Alex Foyn in 35:59, placing 48th and 253rd respectively. Competitive showings followed by Tony Pye, Richard Robinson, Andrew Smith, Hannah Osieku, James Holdsworth and Nic Anness.

The standout performance came from Geoffrey Howard who won the male vet 80 category. Geoff’s time of 47:13, fast by any measure, put him 24 minutes clear of his nearest age category rival. Our research suggests that Geoff’s run is the fastest 10k for his age group in the UK in 2024 so far!

Sally Armitage took on an altogether hillier road race climbing 205m over 10k in Holmfirth to finish 13/154 and 2nd lady in 41:19.

Matthew Lambe and Harry Sime both went sub-20 minutes in the York 5k.

Further 5k action took place in this week’s parkruns. Jaysson Sawyer was 10th and Rob Cunningham 19th at the Fountains Abbey event. In Skipton Samesh Chotai went one better than his previous week’s result to come home first in an impressive eighteen minutes flat, having moved up to the senior section.

Dave and Paula Reynier both ran personal bests at Heslington.

Amanda Newham went the furthest afield to run along the Danube in the Linz parkrun.