THERE was more success for Ilkley Harriers on the international scene again at the weekend, with Nathan Edmondson and Ben Rothery taking part in the International Snowdon Mountain race.

The Snowdon International is considered one of the greatest in the world of mountain running, with this race attracting top athletes from England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland, along with some of the best racers from other European countries.

This year’s event was the 47th staging of this challenging ten-mile race which involves running from Llanberis to the summit of Snowdon and back to Llanberis.

Nathan finished in a superb third place, in a great time of 1:10:20, under one minute behind the winner. While Ben, taking part in his first international race, was an outstanding fifth in 1:11:50.

Also on the mountains, the Ingleborough Mountain Race, organised by Settle Harriers, took place this weekend.

This 6.8mile fell race involves 600m of ascent. It starts in Ingleton and involves summiting Ingleborough and returning along the same route. It is run as part of the Ingleton Gala day. Ann-Kristin Marsham led the Ilkley women home in 1:14:40, claiming second in her age category. Ilkley Harrier Kelly Wilby also took part, with Kelly finishing in another great time of 1:20:52.

This week saw the culmination of the ‘Harrogate District Summer Race League’ series with an exciting handicap race and presentation evening, hosted by Otley AC. The race started on the Prince Henry’s playing fields, with the course going through parkland, a nature reserve, along tracks and the roadside, before retracing the first mile in reverse towards the finish.

Each runner is given a start time based on their performance in the previous races, with the slower runners setting off first and the increasingly faster runners following at timed intervals. The aim is to catch the runner ahead, whilst not being overtaken by those behind. This results in a mass of runners finishing within a short space of each other. The first three Ilkley Harriers across the finish line were Rachel Barnicoat in 14th place, Lucy Elliott in 71st place and Matthew Snow in 77th place.

For the race series events, the outstanding Ilkley Harrier performance was by Emily Gibbins who was the overall female winner and also 1st female U18. A number of other Ilkley Harriers received age category awards including: Kate Archer who was 1st FV40, Alison Bennett who was 1st FV60 and Ken Souyave who was 1st FV70.

Ilkley Harriers Jane McCarthy and Jann Smith completed the Frog Graham round this week. This challenge, a variation on the classic Bob Graham Round, involves not just running on the Lake District fells but also swimming across four lakes and is billed as the UK’s ‘ultimate swim/run challenge’. The course involves running over 40 miles and ascending and descending over 15,000 ft over the north west Lake District fells, as well as swimming across Bassenthwaite Lake, Crummock Water, Buttermere and Derwentwater before finishing at Keswick’s Moot Hall.

Jane and Jann completed the round in a superb time of 16:41, and also set a new record for the Clockwise Round of the route.

They also earned membership to the prestigious Frog Graham Club.

Ilkley Harriers continued with their strong presence at the weekly timed 5km parkrun events around the country. Michael Abrams-Cohen was the first finisher at the Wetherby parkrun in a superb time of 18:42. Harrier Matt Cox also had a first-place finish at the Robert’s Park parkrun, with Matt completing the course in a great time of 17:49, chased home by teammate David Foyston in second while Kyle Bethell was tenth.