REPORT BY: WILL WORBOYS

STANDOUT performances were aplenty for Ilkley Harriers last weekend with Jack Cummings leading the way.

He enjoyed the ride back from Alton Towers after smashing the course record for the Half Marathon which took place there on Sunday.

Cummings was the sole Harrier who made the trip to the theme park in Staffordshire and bettered his time last year when he was 2nd, finishing with a brilliant time of 1:10:31, which was two minutes quicker than the next finisher.

Cummings has recently returned to racing following injury in the summer and is looking forward to more wins in upcoming races.

Also in the Midlands, Mark Hall continued his assault on Ilkley Harriers all time club records, finishing as 1st V60 at the Derby 10-mile race by some considerable margin.

Hall lowered his own record for the category by a minute and a half to 59:34 as well as taking the Harriers V55 record in the process. He finished 64th overall out of a field of over 1,600 competitors.

Back in Yorkshire at the Tadcaster 10-mile race, more Ilkley runners shone, with Ed Hobbs posting a brilliant time of 52:12 to finish in 4th place.

Hobbs’ outstanding performance can be put in context by the fact that his time was only 23 seconds outside a club record that has stood for 34 years.

The second Harrier back was Iain Young who finished 69th overall in a time of 1:03:39, which was his best time at this the distance for over two years.

Next Ilkley runner to finish was Phil Joyner who came home in a time of 1:09:24. Finally Geoffrey Howard was first in his V75 category and finishing in an amazing time of 1:21:31.

Meanwhile, Temple Newsam was the venue for the first PECO cross country race of the five race winter series. An undulating course with an uphill finish, with both the men’s and ladies’ races being the same distance of 4.3 miles at this series, the event invited a good turnout from Ilkley Harriers.

Some excellent results were had too despite the mud, with Sally Malir and Rachel Carter both finishing 4th in their respective categories with the latter being 20th overall of the 388 finishers. Kate Archer also had a fine run to finish 6th in her category.

In the men’s race Oscar Shinn was first Harrier home coming in 14th of the 473 runners. Gawain Moore followed in 22nd and finishing 2nd in his age category. George Whittlestone also finished in the first 100. There were other superb runs from Peter Shelley who was 3rd V55 with Jim Ryder 8th in the same category.

In the Junior 1 Mile Race, Michael Moore had an excellent third place finish coming home in 6:27, with Isobel Moore finishing in 7:17 and Maisie Wilby following on in 10:37.

Ollie Holder led the Harriers home in the Junior 2 Mile Race with a great 5th place in a time of 8:55. Amelia Nichols and Lily Singleton both ran well finishing in 11:37 and 13:12 respectively.

On Saturday was the traditional ‘Harriers vs Cyclists’ race which takes place around Baildon and Shipley Glen. It may seem a bit unfair to pit runners v cyclists, but the uneven and hilly terrain is a great leveller in this annual race.

Although on this occasion it was won by a cyclist albeit by only one minute. Jeff Green of Ilkley could have taken part in either discipline but chose to run and won his category in a time of 42:42; finishing 34th overall.

Kelly Wilby also did very well to finish as 9th runner. The other Ilkley runners to take part were Duncan Cooper who finished 65th and Colm McCann who was 67th.

There were more good performances at the various parkruns around the country and further afield. Alexander Wolfenden continued his parkrun success, this time finishing in 1st place at Lister Park in the fast time of 17:27. John Denniss was first finisher at Chevin Forest in18:20, with Robert Cunningham coming in 6th of the 152 participants. Nicola Budding came 3rd at Myrtle in Bingley.

A great turnout at Roberts Park with junior Lucy Hayes finishing 6th, Adam Gerrish 10th and John Hayes 12th. Nigel Illingworth was 4th Harrier home going under 25 minutes for the first time in a while. Over at Heslington near York David Foyston did well finishing 4th. At Skipton, junior runner Rafe Garner was first in his age category (JM10) and 42nd overall in 24:14.

Finally, a special mention to Andrew Smith who travelled all the way to Rome and finished 12th at Caffarella parkrun, only to find he wasn’t even the first Harrier over the line. Harry Brook-Dobson came 2nd at the Italian event.