ILKLEY'S Tom Adams added to his winning tally as he made the perfect start to the new Golden Trail National Series UK by landing the opening event in the South Downs National Park on Saturday.

He clocked an astonishing time of three hours, 15 minutes and 58 seconds for the 50km route across hills, heath and woodland in Surrey, Sussex and Hampshire.

Starting from Haslemere, he crossed the line in Petersfield just over three minutes ahead of Keswick AC's Brennan Townshend.

Next up in the series is the Scafell Pike Marathon in August.

Adams' trip to the South Downs meant he was absent from the Blencathra Fell Race the same day, a brutal 13km route featuring 825m of ascent, which acted as the English Championships this year.

But four other Harriers took part, and all excelled.

Dan Dry came home in 1:03:29 for 30th position, seven minutes behind winner Jacob Adkin (Keswick AC), with Oli Murphy in 52nd on 1:06:01.

In the women's standings, Kate Archer was a superb third in her FV40 category in 1:23:24, and Alison Weston was fifth FV55 in 1:34:21.

Also in action at the weekend was Colin Williams, in a 39-mile ultra race along the Pennine Way from Bowlees to Alston.

It ran from Low Force past High Force to Cauldron's Snout, then on to High Cup Nick before climbing Old Man Knock.

In continuous drizzle, he completed the race in seven hours and 28 minutes to take seventh place out of 51 runners - with the event won by Rory Harris in a new course record of five hours and 28 minutes.

Also hilly but altogether shorter was the Harrogate 10k on Sunday.

Dan McKeown placed seventh out of 785 in 37 minutes and 56 seconds and was the first MV40, with fellow Harrier Mike Abrams-Cohen in 24th.

Tom Lambe also made the top 100, and a few new faces donned the Ilkley Harriers vests, including Adrienne Dyson, Rachel Barnicoat and Ken Souyave, the latter finishing second MV70 in 51:27.

There was also welcome news that parkruns have returned in Northern Ireland, and Hilda Coulsey made a splash at Portrush on Saturday.

Making up for lost time, she produced a stunning performance to come top of the age percentage list with a staggering score of 86.84 per cent.

Her time of 24:49 also improved her FV65 age category record for Portrush, which is run entirely on the beach and dependent on tides.

Also taking on sand and sea as part of a running challenge were Gavin Lamb and Jayne Norman at the Man v Coast event in Cornwall.

They tackled a breathtaking 25-mile route featuring high cliffs, picture-perfect beaches, crashing waves, water jumps and short swims.

Finally, look out for the return of the Ilkley Half Marathon this Sunday (July 11), which was such a resounding success and a fundraiser for local causes when first held in 2019.