SPEED and stamina were to the fore for Ilkley’s runners last weekend - with Euan Brennan setting a new club record for 5k, while four Harriers successfully completed the 83-miles Dales Way.

Brennan’s feat came at the Podium 5k in Barrowford where he was third in the ‘A’ race in an astonishing time of 14 minutes and 52 seconds.

That knocked 10 seconds off the previous best, set on the same cycle track by Tom Adams back in June 2016.

There were also fine performances in the ‘B’ race from Sally Armitage - who clocked a new personal best of 19:44 - and Mark Iley (20:27).

At the other end of the distance spectrum, four Harriers set off from Bowness at 8.30am on Saturday and then ran well into the night to get back to Ilkley, covering a jaw-dropping 83 miles.

They were part of a 150-strong field in an ultra-marathon organised by local company Punkpanther to celebrate 50 years of the Dales Way.

The weather was mostly fine, though boggy sections added an extra layer of toughness and navigation was also tested as the runners had several checkpoints to visit along the route.

But Ben Sheppard (sixth), Andy Merrick (18th), Adrian Hall (21st) and Oscar Stapleton (51st) were all up to the challenge - getting back to Ilkley on Sunday morning at times varying from 2.11am to 8.40am.

Three other climbing-packed events saw excellent performances from Harriers; Nathan Edmondson was third at the Sedbergh Hills fell race, Paul Carman was 17th out of 138 finishers in the Pendle Three Peaks and Alison Weston was the fifth lady at the Coniston Country Fair fell race, which went up and down Coniston Old Man.

And the evergreen Geoff Howard registered another impressive achievement, this time at the Tynedale 10-miler.

He was returning to the event, which featured 450 feet of ascent, for the first time in five years, having run before at ages 60, 65 and 70 in 61 minutes, 65 minutes and 70 minutes respectively.

Hoping for around 75 minutes to maintain the trend, he finished in 100th place (out of 407) in 73 minutes and 46 seconds.

Results: Podium 5k, Saturday - 'A' race: (1 Charlie Hulson (14:17), Liverpool Harriers), 3 Euan Brennan (14:52 - PB), 23 Ruaridh Mon-Williams (15:55), 58 ran. 'B' race: (1 Ian Carruthers (16:33), unattached), 22 Sally Armitage (19:44 -PB), 30 Mark Iley (20:27), 45 ran.

Punk Panther Dales Way Challenge, Aug 17-18 - (1 Keith Wigley, 15h30), 6 Ben Shepherd (17h41), 18 Andrew Merrick (19h48), 21 Adrian Hall (20h05), 51 Oscar Stapleton (24h10).

Sedbergh Hills fell race, Sunday - (1 James Harris (2:22:21), Ambleside ), 3 Nathan Edmondson (2:29:11), 101 finished.