REPORT BY: JILL EZARD

IT was another successful weekend for Harriers on the fells, with a podium finish for Ben Rothery at the Old Crown Round (OCR) fell race in The Lake District, an English Championship Counter.

The OCR is in the toughest category of fell races covering approximately 36km and with 2200m of elevation gain.

The Race starts and finishes on the Village Green in Hesket Newmarket and completes a loop of some of the higher summits in the northern Lake District including Carrock Fell, Blencathra, Skiddaw, Knott and High Pike.

Ben, who recently made his England debut when fifth at the International Snowdon Race, continued his fine run of form as he completed the race in 03:24:03, taking third position.

Chantal Busby completed the race in 06:19:13, taking sixth place in her age category. A superb race for both.

Mike Abrams-Cohen took a fantastic first place in the 5k Hampsthwaite Feast Run in a course record time of 19:32, narrowly relegating a father and son to second and third place.

Hampsthwaite feast has taken place for over 700 years but this was the first year that people outside the village could enter the run. This was an all the more impressive run given that Mike had been the fourth finisher at the Conyngham Hall parkrun in 18:58 only an hour before the race began – clearly a great warm up event.

Elsewhere, there were lots of Harriers taking part in the timed 5k parkrun events across the country on Saturday 23rd July. Michael Odell and Dave Foyston were both second finishers in the Watermeadows and Roberts Park parkrun events respectively. Michael clocked an impressive time of 17:39 with Dave finishing in 18:27.

Sally Malir was the third female finisher in the Bradford event in a time of 22:28. There were also some great top 10 finishes across the country: Catherine Gibbons at Richmond in 21:19; Paula Reynier in Bradford in 26:48; David and Lily Singleton at Minehead in 21:44 and 29:18 respectively; Kyle Bethell at Rothay Park in 19:48; Adam Gerrish at Chevin Forest in 20:56; and Robin Nicholson in Roberts Park at 19:45.