IT'S not every weekend that you can head back from one of the regular club runs and switch on the BBC to watch an Ilkley Harrier in action at the World Cross Country Championships.

But that was the case last Saturday as Ilkley’s Euan Brennan represented Great Britain and Northern Ireland in the men’s under-20 event in Aarhus, Denmark.

The race was won by Ethiopia’s Milkesa Mengesha in a time of 23 minutes and 52 seconds, with Brennan in 50th place in 26:55.

He was the third Brit home and helped his team to an impressive eighth overall, which was best of the Europeans.

At a county level on the same day, there was a strong Harriers contingent at the Yorkshire Road Relay Championships, held at the Brownlee Centre near Leeds.

And there was an outstanding performance and result from the ladies A team who finished in the bronze medal position out of 35 teams.

Kate Archer gave them a flying start, with a time of 18:34 on the near 5km route, before Rachel Carter, Beth Massey and Sally Armitage all then went comfortably under 20 minutes as they combined superbly to take third place.

The women’s B and C teams finished 19th and 27th respectively, with plenty of personal bests.

For the men, the A squad made the top 20, with Nathan Edmondson bursting out of the traps on the lead-off leg with a rapid 15:35, while the B team were 39th - Steve Murray’s impressive 18:07 one of the highlights.

Many of the Harriers in action at the Yorkshire Road Relays benefit from the weekly coaching sessions of Pete Shields, and Pete set a great example the same day when he was the first in his age category (70 or over) in the Lancaster 10km, with a time of 51 minutes and 39 seconds. That followed hot on the heels of a similar prize at the Wakefield 10km the week before.

There was a different sort of test for Brian Melia who tackled 42 technical miles with around 10,000 feet of ascent and descent in the Lakes Mountain 42 NAV4Adventure Race.

Featuring a 6am start from Askham, near Penrith, this event took in some iconic climbs, including Helvellyn.

Just over 10 hours later, Brian was back in Askham after finishing in 64th place, describing the adventure as “a perfect day in the mountains”.

Also in the Lakes was the Coniston 14, often called the most beautiful road race in Britain.

Each year it attracts some 1,600 runners, and Dave Ibbotson was the sole Harrier in action, clocking two hours and 17 minutes.

On the Parkrun front, Jack Wood registered his latest first place with a time of 16 minutes and 19 seconds at Woodhouse Moor.

And earlier in the week, again over 5km, there were some seriously quick times at the Evensplits evening in Leeds.

Stephen Coy was the first Harrier home in 17:52 (32nd overall), with Harry Stead (19:06) and Michael Abrams Cohen (19:07) both threatening to dip under 19 minutes. Alison Bennett also registered a fine 23:42 and Hilda Coulsey 25:44.

RESULTS:

World Cross Country Championships, Sat 30 Mar

(1 23:52 Milkesa Mengesha, Ethiopia)

50 26:55 Euan Brennan, GB

Yorkshire Road Relay Championships, Sat 30 Mar

Ladies

1 73:01 Holmfirth

2 75:54 RZH

3 76:35 Ilkley A

18:34 Kate Archer

19:04 Rachel Carter

19:46 Beth Massey

19:11 Sally Armitage

19 87:07 Ilkley B

22:12 Caroline Howe

21:55 Abigail Swales

22:00 Tracey Watson

21:00 Sally Malir

27 94:27 Ilkley C

22:16 Jane Bryant

24:32 Petra Bijsterveld

24:15 Jayne Norman

23:24 Helen Waddington

35 teams

Men

1 60:25 Hallamshire

17 68:35 Ilkley A

15:35 Nathan Edmondson

17:52 David Foyston

18:53 Nick Helliwell

16:15 Istvan Jacso

39 76:37 Ilkley B

18:07 Steve Murray

19:10 Colin Williams

20:22 Mark Iley

18:58 Michael Abrams-Cohen

49 teams

Lancaster 10k, Sat 30 Mar

(1 32:32 Jack Turner, Lancaster University)

88 51:39 Peter Shields 1st V70

257 ran

Lakes Mountain 42 NAV4Adventure Race, Sat 30 Mar

64 10:11:00 Brian Melia

200 ran

Coniston 14, Sat 30 Mar

(1 1:13:32 Lewis Rodgers, Loftus & Whitby)

895 2:17:20 Dave Ibbotson

1280 finished

parkruns, Sat 30 Mar

Bradford

(1 17:51 Martin Fillingham, Saltaire Striders)

19 21:38 Dave Reynier

50 23:26 Oscar Street

81 24:39 Tom Lally

83 24:50 Adela Reperecki

155 27:50 Paula Reynier

409 ran

Cliffe Castle

(1 21:42 Joe Atherton, Keighley and Craven)

36 27:18 Fiona Schneider

60 29:22 Karen Lambe

161 ran

Skipton

(1 17:46 Lee Athersmith, RAF AC)

111 29:19 Bernie Gibbons

198 ran

Wetherby

(1 18:51 Joseph Kwallah, Wetherby Runners)

17 23:16 Geoffrey Howard

88 ran

Woodhouse Moor

1 16:19 Jack Wood

593 ran

York

(1 16:29 Chris Poulton, York Acorn RC)

47 19:48 Rhys Jones

606 ran

Evensplits 5k Leeds, Wed 27 Mar

(1 16:01 Jonny Johnson, Rotherham Harriers )

32 17:52 Stephen Coy

63 19:06 Harry Stead

64 19:07 Michael Abrams Cohen

142 23:42 Alison Bennett

169 25:44 Hilda Coulsey

203 finished