IT has been a busy week on the road and the trails for the Ilkley Harriers. The third Ilkley Half Marathon on 10 July saw an incredible 48 Harriers completing the course.

Organised by Ilkley Round Table as part of their annual fundraising, this is an undulating 13.1 mile course on closed roads taking in a loop of Ilkley, Addingham, Bolton Abbey, Beamsley and Nesfield. Despite the searing temperatures there were some outstanding performances with Sally Armitage, taking second place in the women’s race in a superb time of 1:27:23.

Jack Cummings led the men home in 1:14:45 taking fifth place. Barbara Bullock had an amazing race taking first place in her age category with Hilda Coulsey and Jonathan Sinclair taking second and third places respectively in theirs.

On the trails, there were some outstanding ultra performances. On 7 July, Petra Bijsterveld completed the Peades d'Aigua, a stunning 55km race through the Naut Aran mountains in the Pyrenees. Part of the UTMB World Series, the route has some very tough climbs with a total of 3,300 metres of elevation gain. Petra completed the course in a fantastic time of 12h:39m:55s and came second in her age category.

Back in the UK Andrew Merrick, supported by a team of fellow Harriers, was successful in completing his sub-24 hour solo Bob Graham Round, a 66 mile, 27,000 ft circuit of 42 of the highest peaks in the English Lake District. If completed within 24 hours successful runners can become members of the exclusive Bob Graham Round Club.

Lynn Donohue took on the Threshold Trail Series “Race to the Stones” on 9th July following in the footsteps of Vikings and Romans along Britain’s oldest path, the Ridgeway, finishing at the ancient stone circle at Avebury. An epic 100km adventure, Lynn completed the event in a great time of 20:08:31, especially given the challenging heat conditions.

Two Ilkley Harriers tackled the Lakeland Trails 55k Ultra in Ambleside on 9th July. Taking in three mountain passes the challenging course is billed as the most picturesque ultra-marathon in the UK. In her first Ultra event, Catherine Charlton had a great run coming fifth in her age category in a time of 8:28:04, followed by Jill Ezard in 9:42:27.

Elsewhere, Ruth Kitchen was the fifth female home in the St Aiden’s 10k in a superb time of 42:47. Three Harriers completed the challenging Wasdale Horseshoe Fell Race. At 34km and 2,700m of elevation gain this is described as one of the hardest on the FRA calendar. Joseph Morrell was first Harrier home in 5:08:00, just pipping Lawrence McCourt by 8 seconds with Simon Bell following in 5:18:20. Dan McKeown travelled to the Ochils in Scotland to compete in the Dollar Hill Race, a tough 15km route with over 900m of elevation gain. He completed the event in 1:50:30.

Harriers were also out in force in the timed 5k parkrun events across the country. Fay Walsh was the third female finisher in the Woodhouse Grove event in a time of 21:57. Tom Worboys was second finisher in the Bradford Park Run in a time of 19:50 with Sally Malir the third female finisher in 22:24. Oscar Shinn was the second finisher in the Skipton parkrun in 19:09. Jake Norris was third finisher in the Roberts Park event in a fantastic time of 18:25. And finally in a bit of parkrun tourism, Michael Abrams Cohen was the first finisher in the Wallaceneuk event in Kelso in 18:37.  REPORT BY: JILL EZARD