Ben Johnstone & Scott Baistow	Scott Baistow

Only three Wharfedalers took part in the first Bunny Run, Owen Beilby, Ben Johnstone and Scott Baistow. Owen finished in 6th place and Ben finised in 51st place. This was out of 251 starters! Ben was third U14 and as he only missed being 2nd U14 by one second, this represents another brilliant run by Ben.

New member Scott Baistow finished in 87th place and this promising youngster is definitely starting to improve since joining Wharfedale. This is no doubt due to his regular attendances at the Wednesday social runs. Keep it up Scott.

Owen sent in a report of his experience of the night and is available from the link below

The full results are in the results section.

Owen's Report

Bruce Elsworth	Glenn Whittaker & Kevin Rogan

Nine Wharfedalers turned out for this race on what turned out to be a very pleasant afternoon for a run, except there was a very cold wind on the tops.

The race was won by Andy Peace of Bingley in 32:41 and was chased all the way to the finish by Joe Mercer of Skipton who was 5 seconds behind him. This was despite the fact that Andy had opened up a 20 second lead on the top. Third place was Alex Whittam of Calder Valley in a time of 34:16.

Andy Holden was busy with his camcorder on the top and hopefully his footage will be available for viewing shortly. He was very impressed with the run of Victoria Wilkinson, who was apparently a stone's throw behind Andy Peace at the top and was surprised to learn that she did not break the record for the course. (She was actually 13 seconds outside the record). He was also impressed with the run from Joe Mercer and reckons that he will be a top man in a few years time.

First Wharfedaler home was Bruce Elsworth who had a good run to finish in 9th place and was followed by Paul Halstead. Andy Hirst complained about it being a short race and that it set off too fast, but he still put in a good time to finish third Wharfedaler, closely followed by Jonathan Gibson who is rapidly improving now that he is training regularly.

Glenn Whittaker & Kevin Rogan had a bit of a tussle in the middle of the field, but Kev managed to open up a bit of a lead on the descent.

A slection of pictures are now in the gallery including those from Neil Taylor. Results will follow shortly, but in the meantime, the times and positions of our runners were as follows.

Pos	Name	Time	Other
9	Bruce Elsworth	35:52
43	Paul Halstead	40:13
65	Andy Hirst	42:16	V40
73	Jonathan Gibson	43:01	V40
87	Karl Bradshaw	44:48	V40
90	Kevin Rogan	45:11	V50
94	Glenn Whittaker	45:34	V40
131	Pete Metcalfe	49:11	V50
166	Lynn Whittaker	53:17	FV40

We had no seniors in this race but juniors Ben Jonstone and Jonathan Bradhshaw once more represented the club well. Ben continued his present fine form to easily take the U12s race and Jonathan ran out a close second in the U17s.

Well done to both runners

This is a a multi terrain half marathon, mainly off road. Tamara Hird had a go at it and finished 9th lady . Her overall position was 87 out of 364 finishers, with a time of 1:45:08.

Full results are in the results section.

There are now even more pictures in the gallery

Judy Howells and Mike Fanning of Borrowdale went over for this event, which attracted a lot of the top runners. It is 12 miles with an ascent of 6,200ft. The senior male teams were five to count which meant that clubs had to have strength in depth. Mike had an excellent run to come 13th in a time of 2:21:40. As such, he was a counter for the Borrowdale team, which came 2nd to Pudsey & Bramley. Of Borrowdale's five counters, four were V40s and so Borrowdale easily took the V40 first team place.

Of the race, Judy has the following comments.

6200ft 12miles - the hardest ever you can imagine! I'm still waiting for the beneficial boost in confidence that will come from finishing this race, not to mention the leg strengthening! And very unlike me, I didn't even take it easy on the down hills as I was so tired - I just needed to get to the end. As a result, my legs are butchered! However, I may have scored a point in the championship as I came in 30th lady, but not sure how the points work. Not sure I'll be entering any others though, especially if they are anything like this one!

Full results and team places are in the results section.

Great End & Gable	Angletarn & Bowfell

Andy Hirst and Pete Jackson went up to the Lakes today for a bit of a training run round the Langdale Horseshoe Fell Race route. They thought that it would be good training for the Three Peaks and the Old County Tops. This run was enhanced by having the backdrop of the magnificent Lakeland Hills covered in snow.

Jonathan Bradshaw	Ben Johnstone & Scott Baistow

Three of our juniors and a few seniors turned out for this mid week event, including Sam Watson & Jason Hemsley. They were lead home by young Jonathan Bradshaw who had a great run to finish in 15th place overall. Ben Johnstone also had a good race to finish 53rd and 2nd U14. Scott Baistow did not enjoy this run (not enough steep hills) and finished in 143rd place, but perhaps it will help with his speedwork.

The times and positions of all our runners were as follows:

Pos	Name	Time	Other
15	Jonathan Bradshaw	17:16	3rd U16
24	Sam Watson	18:11
38	Jason Hemsley	18:54
53	Ben Johnstone	19:25	2nd U14
107	Carl Bradshaw	21:16	V40
177	Paul Wilson	34:45	V40
143	Scott Baistow	22;27	U16

The results are now available for this race and again, it shows how well our youngsters are doing. In the Under 8s, Robbie Johnstone came into his own, competing against runners of a similar age and won the race. In the under 12s, his brother Ben did the same, whist in the U16s, Jonathan Bradshaw came a close 2nd.

Once more, well done to our youngsters.

Owen's Report of the Day

There was no local fell running this weekend, but Owen Beilby had a run out in the London Marathon. No doubt Owen will send in a report of the day, but the results show that he had an excellent run, coming 110th overall and 30th in his age group in a time of 2:35:46. He ran pretty consistently throughout, passing the half way mark in a time of 1:15:29. His average speed for the race was 5:56 per mile which equates to just over 10 miles an hour.

I think 'es 'ad a fantastic run in the marathon...I was very impressed with 'is little story you put on t'web. It would be good for all of 'is clubmates to sponsor 'im if they 'aven't done already... COME ON YOU LOT...DIG INTO YER POCKETS AND GI' OWEN A BOOST FOR 'IS 3 PEAKS CHALLENGE!!!

WELL DONE OWEN LAD...'N GOOD LUCK FOR YER NEXT PART OF THE CHALLENGE.

Andy

If anyone wants to sponsor Owen, his chosen charity is the Motor Neurone Disease Association and you can do so from the following link.

http://www.justgiving.com/owenbeilby

The conditions were terrible for this event, which took place on a sleety cold night, yet it attracted 258 entrants. Once more the winner was Will Smith of Keighley and Craven, who seems to be coming back to form and he just held off Ian Holmes of Bingley.

Once more the youngsters led the Wharfedalers home. Jonathan Bradshaw was first to finish in 14th place overall and 2nd U16 boy. He was closely followed by Jack Smith in 17th place who was 3rd U16 boy. Whereas most runners were slower than last week, Scott Baistow managed a similar time, which shows that he is getting batter.

Amongst the seniors, Judy Howells was first F35 and Jason Hemsley was first senior back.

The times and positions of all our runners were as follows:

Pos	Name	Time	Other
14	Jonathan Bradshaw	17:48	2nd U16
17	Jack Smith	18:09	3rd U16
45	Jason Hemsley	19:25
62	Andy Smith	19:25	2nd U14
77	Carl Bradshaw	21:10	V40
92	Tamara Hird	21:54	F
109	Scott Baistow	22:36	U16
113	Judy Howells	22:45	1st F35

Jonathan Gibson	Kevin Rogan
Judy Howells	Adam Baker

This race has become a Lakeland classic and this year it attracted over 400 starters, although out of these, there appeared to be only four from Wharfedale. The conditions for the race were good. It was not too wet underfoot, but there was a cold strong wind on the tops. For those who do not know the course, the race starts from Stair village near Keswick and the first stage is a long run on the road and tracks before starting the ascent of Robinson, the first hill of the day, which has a height of 2418 feet. There is then a gentle gentle descent before ascending Hindscarth and then another gentle descent before ascending Dale Head. After Dale Head, there is a steep descent of 800 feet towards Dale Head Tarn and every runner seems to have his or her own idea of the best route down. After this ascent, you start the long climb up to High Spy and Maiden Moor, before descending again to leave only the last ascent up Catbells. This would normally be nothing of a challenge, but is something else when you get to this stage of the race. Then follows a run over the road, back to Stair.

When the first runner came into view at Dalehead Tarn, he appeared to have a good lead on the following pack and he descended well. This turned out to be Lloyd Taggart, who started his ascent up High Spy like he was running on the canal Bank. Four runners followed shortly after, all of whom were going very strongly.

Our first runner to appear was Jonathan Gibson on the ascent of High Spy and looked surprisingly fresh and appeared to be going well. He was followed on the same stretch by Kevin Rogan, who did appear to be feeling the strain of the previous hard work.

Next to appear was Judy Howells on the stretch between High Spy and Maiden Moor and she had the appearance of someone thoroughly enjoying her day out on the fells. To see her, you would not think that she had already completed a distance and ascent that was a challenge in itself.

The last Wharfedaler to appear was Adam Baker, who seemed to be suffering in this energy sapping race and the windy conditions. As he passed, he muttered that he would not be doing the Three Peaks next week. When he finished, he found that he had five blisters on his feet, which he thinks will not heal sufficiently over the next week.

The race was well organised and marshaled. Particular thanks must go to the marshals on the tops, who were out for a long time in bitterly cold conditions.

Full results will be posted as soon as they are available.

More pictures of the day.

Adam Baker	Jonathan Gibson	Judy Howells

Gary & Debbie Devine left the results of this race up in Sedbergh and we have only now received a copy. There is a certain amount of controversy surrounding these results as several runners were disqualified for not visiting check point three, but there could have been others who escaped disqualification. In addition, it appears that there were also several runners with finishing positions who did not visit check point five.

The results are in the results section, but in view of the above, should be treated with some circumspection.

Emily Throup leading the group

It was nice to see a few of our youngters turn out for this event and it was particularly good to see Emily Throup having a run out again. Our first three finishers were juniors and it was good to see Tom Cunningham in this group. Scott Baistow looked to be running comfortably as did Emily Throup who put in a good performance in her come back race. The overall winner, with a time of 15:25, was Will Smith of Keighey & Craven, who loves this type of race.

The finishing times and positions of our runners were as follows:

Pos	Name	Time	Other
9	Jonathan Bradshaw	17:04
17	Jack Smith	17:42
32	Tom Cunningham	18:57
36	Andy Smith	19:08
50	Ben Johnstone	19:51
71	Carl Bradshaw	20:31
108	Simon Throup	22:23
137	Scott Baistow	23:22
146	Emily Throup	24:02

It was a sunny evening for this race and what an interesting race it turned out to be. After last year's success by Graham Hodgson on a bike, the hot money was on Pete Keron emulating his performance this year. What the spectators on the moor did not know was that two other cyclists had entered and they had chosen to take the much longer, but faster road route to Dick Hudsons.

Everyone has their own idea of the best route across the moor and from the off, the runners split into two groups, with one group heading up towards White Wells, whilst about half a dozen others headed east along the moor, before turning south to head up the moor through the crags. The leaders of the White Wells contingent made it onto the moor top first and the leader of the other group appeared joined them in about 5th or 6th position. It appears that other in the same group headed even further east before making the ascent onto the moor top. Pete Keron was trailing a little at this stage, having had to carry his bike up the steps, but once on the tops, he would have plenty of distance to make up for lost time.

All the runners then disappeared over the horizon and it was a matter of waiting to see the outcome. Again, everyone has their own idea of which route to take and whilst some returned via White Wells, other cut across the moor taking a more direct route towards the finish through the heather. The first runner to appear was Ian Nixon closely followed by Mark Horrocks and both raced towards the finish, with Mark pushing the younger man all the way.

What we all did not know at that stage was that the winner of the race was already at the finish waiting to greet them. Graham Pearce, who was biking the event, had taken the much longer road route and had knocked three and a half minutes off Graham Hodgson's time of last year. In doing so, he again emphasised what a good all round athlete he is.

Interestingly enough, Andy Holden also chose to bike the road route, as he is still carrying a niggling injury which would have prevented him carrying his bike up on the moor top and he still finished in front of Pete Keron, who had taken the moor route. Pete seems to have learnt a lot from the race this year and it will be interesting to see what happens next year if he again takes the moorland route.

The first junior home as Jack Smith of Wharfedale Harriers closely followed by George Stephens and David Schneider who run for both Ilkley Harriers and Bradford Grammar School. Special mention should also be made of Jenny Dybeck of Ilkley Harriers. Not only was she the first female to finish, but she is also an under 17, so it was a great performance by Jenny.

Full results are in the results section.

Whilst the focus was on the main fell race, junior races were taking place and as usual, a few of our juniors were there. Pride of place must go to Robbie Johnstone. This young lad happily competes out of his age group and this does him a world of good when he comes to compete with juniors his own age. He came first in the U8s against some good competition.

Ellamae Gibson had a good run in the U10s and came third girl whilst in the U12 boys, Ben Johnstone came 4th. This was the same position that Jonathan Bradshaw achieved in the U16s, which also saw Scott Baistow come 33rd.

Once more, it is well done to all our youngsters.

This race attracted a strong field with runners coming from far and wide. Against this strong field, 13 Wharfedalers took to the fells, with Ted Mason leading them home. Although finishing behind Ted, Owen Beilby had a good run, bearing in mind that he was probably still feeling the effects of his strong show in the London Marathon. The finishing times and positions of all our runners were as follows:

Pos	Name	Time	Other
60	Ted Mason	3:25:52
92	Owen Beilby	3:32:34
146	Lucas Payne	3:45:00
159	Jason Hemsley	3:48:06
201	James Harrison	3:55.51
203	Paul Harlowe	3:56:04	V50
260	Mark McGoldrick	4:03:46
265	Sam Watson	4:04:41
294	Andy Hirst	4:09:55
301	Bruce Elsworth	4:11:28
412	Tamara Hird	4:27:45
455	Pete Jackson	4:33:53	V50
520	Judy Howells	4:43:53

The Dick Hudson Race was the latest in the series of Mob Matches between ourselves and Ilkley Harriers. In this race, we had fourteen counters to Ilkley's fifteen, with the result that we accumulated 1,246.43 points on the day, to 1,182.01 by Ilkley. So Wharfedale just won the day. However, carrying forward the totals from the Ilkley Moor Race, Ilkley are just ahead with 1,854.54 points to 1,741.13 for Wharfedale. It is therefore a close contest, which is what we hoped for at the outset. It is therefore all to play for. The next race in this series will be the Jack Bloor Race on 13 May.

Andy Holden was out with his camera on Saturday and a few of his pics are now in the gallery

There used to be two races on Pendle which are now defunct, the Downham Fell Race and the Five Cloughs Race. Andy Hirst has decided to revive them and combine them into a new race. It is a much more interesting and challenging race from the current races over Pendle and as such, will have wide appeal.

Full details of the race are on the link below.

Pendle Cloughs Race Details