ILKLEY Harriers' Alison Weston is celebrating after being confirmed as the FV50 British Fell Running Champion for 2018.

This was achieved by excellent performances in challenging short, medium and long distance fell races across the United Kingdom.

Her efforts also saw her secure an impressive result in a younger category too, coming equal seventh in the FV40 Championships.

Michael Lomas ran and cycled hard at the Ilkley Duathlon to finish in a solid 23rd place. His strong opening run of 10 minutes and 33 seconds set the platform, and he finished in one hour, five minutes and 27 seconds.

Jonathan Sinclair was the only Harrier at the Bristol Half Marathon and his 241st place finish ensured that he was the third V55 across the line in 1:26:42.

In terms of the number of participants, the race was a similar size to the Leeds Half, and in weather akin to West Yorkshire, It rained all the way through the race before turning blue and sunny immediately afterwards

The first part of the course was an out and back run up the gorge, before it returned to the city centre for the second half, taking a labyrinthine route around the streets. There was some undulation but no ‘proper hills’.

The 6.5-kilometre Great Whernside Fell Race took place in fairly dry weather conditions. The run goes straight up and down Great Whernside from Kettlewell, with a total ascent of 475 metres.

There was a good turnout from Harriers in this race, which was a fixture on the club’s league. Istvan Jacso was the top performer, coming 14th in 35 minutes and 55 seconds.

There were five more Ilkley runners in the top 50. Jim Ryder was 28th in 38:39, Will Buckton finished 42nd in 40:18, Colin Williams came 44th in 40:31, while Peter Shelley (40:37) and Helen Thurston (41:01) were 45th and 48th respectively.

Four other Harriers dipped under the 50-minute mark. Alistair Barlow (42:23) came 56th, Chantal Busby (45:17) finished 77th, Alison Weston (46:15) was 78th and Jo Foster (48:01) completed the course in 87th place.