IT was fantastic weather for the Manorlands Solstice Saunter at Bolton Abbey on 21 June.

This is a five-mile run on the trails of the breathtaking Bolton Abbey that is organised by the Airedale Dodgers as a fundraising event for Sue Ryder Manorlands Hospice. Starting and finishing near the Cavendish Pavilions, the route takes runners upstream through the Strid Wood to Barden Bridge, then back along fields, Storiths Road and the riverside path to the finish. Seven Harriers turned out for the event with both Holley Spiers and Claire McLoughlin having great runs and taking second place in their age categories.

Wednesday 22nd June saw the fifth and last event in the EvenSplits 5k summer series held at the Brownlee Centre in Leeds. In a departure from the normal 5k format there was a team relay, with teams made up of three runners from the same club. It was the Harriers’ biggest turnout in the series with 16 taking part. Nathan Edmondson was the first to finish in second place in blistering time of 15:21. And the team’s impressive results continued with five runners coming first in their age categories: Tom Adams, Matthew Cox, Archie Budding, Petra Bijsterveld and Hilda Coulsey.

Not content with placings at an individual level the men’s relay team stormed to victory, with the women’s team coming 11th and first all-women’s team. As it was the end of the series the individual and team championship prizes were awarded. Ruth Kitchen had a great run of form across the races and took to the podium in second position. And overall the club came third in the championship…a great result for the summer events!

The fourth race in the Harrogate District Summer Race League series took place in Skipton on Thursday 23rd June, with 22 Harriers turning out for the event. This 5 mile road race starts in Aireville Park and follows a figure of eight around Skipton, Stirton and Thorlby. Jon Denniss was the first Harrier home in 30:19 and a great eighth place just pipping Chris Welford by eight seconds. It was a fantastic race for Emily Gibbins who finished in 14th place overall, taking first female in a time of 30:53. There were some great performances all round with Jonathan Turner, Kate Archer and Ken Souyave all taking first place in their age categories.

The Eldwick and Gilstead Gala Fell Race on Saturday 22nd June is a three-mile fell race from the from the gala field in the village taking in the Hope Hill trig point on Baildon Moor. It includes rough and steep terrain with 168m of climb! Steve Gott had an impressive run completing it in just over 19 minutes and taking third place and first in his age category.

It was a sunny and blustery day for the Hollybank Eccup 10 on Sunday, a closed road 10 mile run from Adel taking in Eccup reservoir and the gorgeous country lanes around the area. No fewer than 25 Harriers took to the road and there were some great performance with top three positions across a range of age categories: Sally Armitage took first place in the FV40 category; Nick Kealey was second in the MV45 followed by Justin Pierce in third; and Jeff Green, Tracey Watson and Claire McLoughlin all took third in their categories. A great return to racing for Tracey who has been out with injury.

There was a good turnout of Ilkley Harriers in the timed 5k parkrun events across the country. Michael Abrams-Cohen was the third finisher at the Roberts Park parkrun in a time of 18:30. Whilst in the Chevin Forest parkrun, Robin Nicholson was seventh finisher.