ALEX Hirst has been on his travels for the Ilkley Harriers this year and after last week's strong Parkrun performance in Cardiff, he returned to the country and came away with another strong finish under his belt.

He tackled the Craig Yr Allty last week, and flying the Harriers flag in obscure Welsh fell racing, he came home in a very creditable eighth place.

In some action closer to home, there were warm conditions for the 33rd Leeds Half Marathon, which made the final four-mile slog down Kirkstall Road even tougher than normal.

There was a good mix of club and charity runners, great support en route and a wonderful atmosphere in Millennium Square on the day, and several Harriers runners embraced this.

Caroline Howe, having focused on shorter distances recently, was expecting a tough final three miles, so was delighted to finish with a personal best time of one hour, 41 minutes and 57 seconds.

The first Harrier home was Helen Thurston in a fantastic time of 1.32.50 which made her the 16th lady to finish overall.

There were 6,000 runners that took part in the race, so credit must go to Rhys Jones (1.34.14) and Steve Newell (1.37.00) who, along Thurston and Howe, finished inside the top 1,000.

There were also admirable runs from William Josling (2.23.50) and Carloline Tong (2.23.51), who completed this race a year after joining the Ilkley Harriers 0-5k course.

Heather Waddington and Debbie Jukes went to the scenic, multi-terrain Ripon 10 mile and the former was able to finish inside the top 200, with her time of 1.30.13. Jukes crossed the line in 302nd place, in 1.40.06.

Adam Bennett ran in the Slieve Donard race on Saturday and the 10k race there is to the summit of the highest mountain in Northern Ireland.

The race started on the coastal road in Newcastle then headed into woods along stony paths where the climbing started. Bennett reached the 'Saddle' in 35 minutes before a further steep climb brought him to the summit 15 minutes later.

There then followed a more tricky, unmarked steep descent over rough and rocky ground before he found a path to the road leading to the playing field, where he was pleased to finish in 1.19.54 after a challenging race.

In the Parkruns, Geoff Howard's efforts stood out. He put in a stunning run of 21.35, aged over 70, at Wetherby to record a new personal best.

Elsewhere, Oscar Stapleton won at Skipton in 18.07 while Chris Cunningham came home there in 25.15.

Lucy Williamson was first lady in 19.36 in Penrhyn, while Oscar Street (22.04), Stephanie Fox (25.42), Paula Reynier (25.43) and Dave Reynier (25.45) performed well at Bradford.