There are no results yet for this race, but the word on the fells is that Catherine Wolfenden was first lady. She is just coming back from a foot problem and apparently, she blitzed the opposition.

Further details follow.

A bit more detail has now emerged about this race which our new member Tim Stedman ran over in Belgium. It is a bit like a circular trail race, except that you run two laps. The total distance, converted from metric, is around 7 miles with an ascent of 3,380ft. Tim ran it in 59:56, which sounds like a pretty good time. He will be coming over to England to run at Skiddaw next month and Coniston in August, which are both of similar ascent and distance. So, if anyone enters either of these races and sees an unknown figure in a Wharfedale vest, please go over and say hello as in all probability, it will be Tim.

The results for this race are now available and they make intersting reading. We all knew that Natalie White had a great run and it turns out that she set a new ladies record. She finished two places ahead of Phillipa Jackson of Keswick, who also beat the previous record.

Andrew Robertshaw was the first V40 and Keswick were the first team. If Andy had been running for Wharfedale or if Ted had have been running, in all probability, Wharfedale would have been the first team.

Maybe next year.

Andy Holden took a bit of video footage of this race which is now available for viewing in four parts. There is no download time and the videos are available for immediate viewing.

Part One


Part Two

Part Three

Part Four

John Beswick	Lynn Whittaker

A lot of Wharfedalers went off today to Pen Y Ghent, but a few went to the local run at Kelbrook including Andy Holden who not only took a few pics, but also sent in a report.

Race Report

Results are now in the results section. The positions and times of the Wharfedalers are shown below. Apologies to Scott Baistow, whose time and position were not recorded in the results.

Pos	Name	Time	Other
17	Paul Harlowe	24:41
21	Paul Halstead	25:19
38	Paul Carmen	26:50
48	Kevin Rogan	28:04
49	Barry Scholes	28:20
55	John Beswick	28:56
57	Glenn Whittaker	29:03
??	Scott Baistow	??
81	Lynn Whittaker	32:32

Blencathra First Climb
Anthony Labram of Eden Runners not only organised this race, but he also ran in it, finishing in a very creditable 13th place. Not only did he run in it, but he took his camera with him and took photographs on his way round. Where would he have finished if he had just concentrated on his running?

The above picture was taken by Anthony of the first climb of the race. A couple of places in front of Pete Keron is the record breaking Pippa Jackson.

We are still awaiting a note of the endeavours of everyone who went to Pen Y Ghent, but in the meantime Andy Holden was out with his camera at Kelbrook and a few of his pictures are now in the gallery. The full results are also available.

A lot of Wharfedalers went to this event and here is a brief report from Tamara Hird

Sorry I must remember to get the results for the next race I go to! There were loads of Wharfedalers present. The lovely weather made for a hot climb - but there was a welcome breeze on top! The race was won easily by Ian Holmes followed by Andy Peace. Ted started off steady to move through the field and finish 8th. Goldie came about 14th and Jason had a good run to finish 18th. Sam came next, followed by Chris Newman, James Harrison and Jonathon Gibson and John Thompson. The ladies race was won by Victoria Wilkinson - I was 6th lady and Kirsty was about 12th lady.

Full results are now in the results section.

Brian Hugill
We would just like to extend a warm welcome to Brian Hugill, pictures above running in the Kelbrook race, who is the latest member to join Wharfedale. We hope that Brian enjoys the comradeship that club membership brings and hopefully he will be joining us at future post race meetings to replace lost body fluids and talk of the trials and tribulations of the day.

This is another very good mid week fell race, but it is quite tough with some steep ascent and descent. Four Wharfedalers made their way up to Tebay for it and all did extremely well. The weather was slightly cloudy with a light breese on the tops, it was dry underfoot and it was ideal conditions for the race. Ideal perhaps for breaking the record.

In the event, it turned out not to be a record breaking night. The race was won by Alister Dunn of Helm Hill in a time of 1:13:13, which was three minutes outside the record. If he had been pushed, he might have done better, but he was under no pressure at the finish. Second was Johnny Bland in a time of 1:16:29 followed by Keiran Hodgson of Holmfirth, with a time of 1:20:43.

He finished just ahead of Kirt Livesey, who had a brilliant run to finish fourth. On the descent down from Blease Fell, he was neck and neck with Keiran for third position, but in the end, the younger man got the better of Kirt.

To be fair, all the Wharfedalers had good performances and all four ended up in the top 12, out of 94 starters. On another evening, they would have probably taken the team prize, but on the Howgills, Helm Hill had good runners out in numbers and were obviously first team.

It was nice to see that John Perry had come up for this race and appeared to be going well from the start. He looked quite fresh going up the ascent of Rispa Pike. There was some serious ascent and descent in front of him and despite the very steep ascent of Blease Fell towards the end, he made a strong finish. As the runners made the gentle descent from Blease Fell towards the finish, John, Goldie and Sam Watson were all in sight of each other and were all going strong. As the last Wharfedaler, Sam kept looking behind him on the descent, but he had opened a hugh gap on his chaser and there was no way that he was going to lose his place.

Another good evening out in Cumbria.

The full results follow. In the meantime, the times of the Wharfedalers were as follows:

Pos	Name	Time	Other
4	Kirt Livesey	1:20:46	V40
8	John Perry	1:21:28
11	Mark McGoldrick	1:23:24
12	Sam Watson	1:25:39

Three Wharfedalers turned up for this road race and Owen Beilby sent in this brief report of the event.

There were 3 Wharfedalers out pounding the lanes around Otley last night, myself, Sharon Barker & Tamara. It's a hilly 10 with 2 nasty climbs (for a road race) at around 5 miles and 7. Darren Bilton (Leeds) and Gary Dunn (Thirsk) ran away from a decent field within a mile of the start, with Darren eventually pipping Gary to the post. The rest of the field broke down into a group of 3 Bingley lads being tracked by Graeme Pearce of P&B, who seems to be on great form at the moment, getting amongst the Bingley boys to finish 5th, followed by Adam Breaks and a lad from Rothwell who were nip and tuck for most of the race. I was stranded on my own behind these two until the final steep climb, when a chasing pack of 3 gave me just the kick up the bum I needed. I managed to hold them off and make up some ground on the 2 in front, eventually coming in 9th in 58.42. Tamara finished ahead of Sharon, but I'm not sure on times (sorry!), but they both seemed happy, but tired - a feeling shared by us all!

Tamara kindly sent in the results and for the record, she finished 8th lady and Sharon was 23rd. They are now in the results section.

Bikes and people on the lawn at Low Hall Farm
It was a nice day for this event and any rain that was about, avoided Appletreewick. The more energetic went on the bike ride in the afternoon, which included a couple of stops for refreshment. This finished a bit later than planned, which meant that everyone else congregated at the the local hostelry just across the road, until everything was set up.

The barbecue was quickly under way and soon everyone was eating and drinking, socialising, having a go on the trick cycle or showing their prowess at golf.

The evening went quickly (always a good sign) and whilst many then drifted off home, others got ready to spend their night, either under canvass, or in their motor homes.

Thanks must go to Ted Mason for putting on such a great day and for his generous hospitality at his farm in the evening.

This weekend saw another of those tough long Lakeland races and Andy Hirst, as you might expect, was there. He is running a lot better this year and once more he had a good result, improving his time on that of last year by 56 minutes. He put this down to better weather and better conditions, but as he also improved his finishing position, finishing 55th this year as opposed to 82nd last, it must mean that he is also running a lot better. He certainly seems to have enjoyed his race this year. He has sent in a full report of the day, which is on the link below.

Read Andy's Report

Ben Johnstone	Oliver Whyte	Jonathan Bradshaw

This Bofra race brought out, as usual, a fair amount of support from Wharfedale runners. What was particularly pleasing was the fact that we had 8 juniors out on the fells.

Looking at our juniors first, Adam Gibson was 9th in the U9s. In the U12s, Ben Johnstone continued with his unbeaten record in this series and it was nice to see Oliver Whyte finish in 4th place. Ellamae Gibson was 3rd girl. In the U17s, the tussle between Tom Sessford and Jonathan Bradshaw continues, with Tom just running out the winner. Further down the field, Jack Smith and Scott Baistow continue to show improvement.

In the senior race, it was good to see that we had eight ladies present, with Tamara Hird leading them home. It was also good to see Sheryl and Nicole Slater continuing their comebacks.

In the senior men, Ted Mason seemed to prove that there is no better way of preparing for a race than going out the previous day on your bike round a couple of pubs, then following it with a few more bevvies in the evening. He ran out race winner, beating Alastair Dunn, who had such a good run mid week at Tebay, into second place. Bruce Elsworth, as usual, put in a good performance to finish 4th. Mark McGoldrick finished in 8th place and again like the mid week race at Tebay, Sam Watson was hot on his heels, finishing three places behind him.

Thanks to the speedy work by Tim Done, the full results of the day are in the results section.

Owen Beilby went up with Ian Nixon to Scotland this weekend for this race, which is 10 miles and 3,800 ft of climb. He has sent in a report of his experience, available from the link below.

Owen's Report

Andy Smith	Scott Baistow & Barry Scholes

This race is increasing in popularity and attracted a record number of 89 runners this year, despite the dreadful weather conditions. It also attracted runners from far and wide. This is not surprising as it is an interesting and challenging course and is much harder than it first appears.

There was a real battle at the front of the field between Josh Tighe and Grant Cunliffe, with Josh just running out the winner. It was a new record time for the race, although it was on a slightly different course to last year.

It was great to see three juniors in the race, with Jack Thompson of Pendle finishing in a very creditable 7th place overall. In fact, all the juniors did well. Jack Dugdale of Clayton was 11th and Jack Smith of Wharfedale was 17th. All three are going to be runners to watch out for in the future.

Results are now available as follows : web format   pdf    excel

Jack Smith	Paul Carmen & Jonathan Gibson

Graham Breeze of Skyrac and long time fell runner has has written a short piece about his experience of the night and it is quite amusing. It is available from the link below

Read Graham's Report

A few pictures are now in the gallery and were taken by Andy Holden. They are not up to his usual standard and are a bit grainy, probably due to the poor weather conditions and the camera he was using. However, they have been posted on the basis that they are better than nothing.

Race winner Gary Devine of Pudsey & Bramley.

What was a fine morning in Buckden for the annual gala and fell race, rapidly deteriorated after lunch to produce dreadful conditions for this race, with heavy rain and mist on the top of the fells. Despite these conditions, the race attracted 141 entrants. There were a few tumbles on the final steep descent back into Buckden and in the stream crossing, but thankfully, no one was hurt.

The race was won by Gary Devine of Pudsey and Bramley, who despite being a Vet 40, is still a force to be reckoned with on the fells. He finished just ahead of Ted Mason of Wharfedale and both had opened up a gap on third placed James Bulman of North York Moors.

The first three female runners home were all from Wharfedale Harriers and were Judy Howells, Tamara Hird and Kate Rogan.

The first junior home was Jack Smith of Wharfedale, who finished ahead of Robbie Swift and Will Marshall, both of Skipton AC.

A big thanks must go to all the helpers and marshals of Wharfedale Harriers who assisted with this event and particularly those who spent a long time on the top of the fells, in not very pleasant conditions.

Thanks must also go to the Upper Wharfedale Fell Rescue Association who always attend this event and we are indeed grateful that, despite the slippery conditions, their services were not needed this year.

The results are now available for this race as follows. web format   pdf    excel

Pictures of the race are now in the picture gallery.

John Thompson approaching the summit

Terry Lonergan of Complete Runner was out on the fells at this race and took a few photographs, including the one above. Terry has kindly forwarded some of these on to us and and they are now available for viewing in the gallery.

This race is becoming increasingly popular and this time attracted 98 entrants. This may have been helped by the fact that this is the last of the mob matches between Ilkley & Wharfedale Harriers - a bit of friendly rivalry between the two local clubs.

After coming home 2nd in two races over the weekend, Ted Mason seemed determined not to let another one slip from his grasp and made a great effort on the ascent to lead at the summit. Ted has always been good on the descent and so from then on, it would have taken a monumental effort to have caught him - unless he picked a poor route back, of course.

Ted finished the race ahead of team mate Owen Beilby, who also had a strong performance. These two had opened up a bit of a gap on the chasing pack, led by Stephen Bottomley, a Vet 40, of Pudsey & Bramley.

Another notable performance in the top ten was Jonathan Bradshaw, who was first U17 and in 5th place overall.

Amongst the ladies, the first woman home on the night was Laura Martin of Otley AC in a time of 44:32. She was followed by Alison Bennett of Ilkley and Jenny Dybeck, also of Ilkley.

This race brings to a conclusion an interesting series of mob matches between the clubs of Ilkley and Wharfedale. Ilkley went into this race with a lead in the competition, but with Wharfedale having nine finishers in the top twenty as opposed to four for Ilkley, it looks like being a close finish. We now look forward to seeing the final position, once the scholars at Ilkley have added up all the points

The results are now available for this race as follows. web format   pdf    excel

Bit of belated news from the weekend. Lucas Payne did the Ironman event at Nice (France). Whilst we experienced wet weather at Weets and Buckden, the complaint from Nice was the other way round - too hot. This is what Lucas had to say about the day.

It is 32 degrees in Nice and 37 in the hills. Used factor 50 and still got badly burnt! Never again. It was desperate. I could not eat. Had 5 gels, 2 power bars and a few bananas all day. Finished in just under 13 hours.

Just for the record, Lucas finished in 1174th position and the full results are in the results section, but only in excel format.

We have now received details of the first thirty finishers and brief details of finishers in each category and these are now availble for viewing in the results section. We hope to add the full results shortly.

Gary Devine	Chris Smale	James Bulman

The above pictures of the first three runners at the summit of Buckden Pike show what the conditions were like on the top. They do not show how heavy the rain was, but it was heavy enough to persuade Sam Wadsworth, who took these pics, to put his camera away, before it did it untold damage.

Only two Wharfedalers went over for this event, although there was apparently a lot of the Keighley & Craven lads there. First home for Wharfedale was Jason Hemsley in 11th place, followed by Barry Scholes, who had a good run to finish in 37th place. Futher details follow, when available

Ted Mason	Owen Beilby	Sam Watson

The Ladies Team
The competition was tough in this race, as it was a British and English Championship Counter and all the top runners were there. Ted, Owen and Sam have all been running really well recently,yet they ended up being 38th, 51st and 78th respectively.

In the ladies race, this was the first time ever that Wharfedale Harriers have fielded a ladies team in a Championship Race. It is reckoned that they were 8th out of 13, not bad for a first outing. Catherine Wolfenden continued her fine return to form, being 32nd overall and leading the team home. First team were Calder Valley, followed by Eryri and then Bingley - not bad company.

The men's team is five to count, so if we are to have two teams in the next Championship Race at Kentmere Horseshoe, we could do with a few more men turning up.

The full results are in the results section. However, the times of the Wharfedalers were as follows:

Pos	Name	Time	Other
38	Ted Mason	30:34
51	Owen Beilby	31:39
78	Sam Watson	33:05	3rd U/23

Ladies Race

Pos	Name	Time	Other
32	Catherine Wolfenden	39:08
40	Tamara Hird	40:16
66	Sharon Barker	46:28
71	Lynn Whittaker	47:10

Three Wharfedalers went up to the Lakes for this race, Sam Watson, Kate Rogan & Kevin Rogan. Sam Watson, who is very much on form at the moment, finished in 6th place, despite having had a tough race yesterday.

Kate Rogan had a cracking run, picking off several runners on the descent, to finish in 22nd place and third lady. At this stage, we are not sure of Kev's position, but he ended up in around 30th position.

Further details follow shortly

Mark McGoldrick was the only Wharfedaler to enter this low key race, but it turned out to be a really tough, but fast, trail race, covering the ground around Scout Scar. Mark was happy to come home in 8th place in a time of 59:37. In form Craig Roberts was the winner, with all the top 3 beating Craig's previous record on what were quite windy conditions.

If anyone is wanting an entry for this year's Borrowdale race, contact Mark on 07795 180695. He is unable to do this race now, as luckily, a holiday has cropped up. If no one comes forward, he will put it on FRA forum

As members are already aware, Jason Hemsley, in addition to being a good fell runner, is also a good cyclist. He entered the above event and has sent in a brief report of the evening.

The annual Otley Town Centre Cycle Race was held in atrocious conditions, heavy rain and wind throughout the evening's 3 races. Jason Hemsley, representing Crosstrax, competed in the Senior race, for 3/4/J and Women, along with 8 team mates. The race was fast throughout, even in the wet, and soon split into smaller groups, with 20 or so riders holding strong at the front. Jason held onto this group, just, putting in big efforts on the hill up to Waitrose, then hanging on, along Birdcage Walk. The corners were slippy and some riders skidded off, but generally, it was a safe race, the conditions making for cautious riding. It was satisfying to lap the Team Chevin lads, who always underperform at this event. Scott Thwaites of Crosstrax, was having a great race, being very active at the front and managed to get 4th place in the bunch sprint. Jason held on and passed a few team mates on the last lap, as riders faded and 'sat up' near the end, finishing just off the main group, which had split on the final lap. Despite the conditions, it was another great race, and pleasing to race in front of such a huge crowd. It is traditional then to have a few pints outside the Junction and watch the Elite race, which is always a spectacle and proved so, even with the weather worsening. Bradley Wiggins failed to show, but the best riders in the country showed how to race, with local lad Mark Thwaites up there with the best of them. There are lots of photos and a race report on the British Cycling website for those interested, and I would recommend people to come and watch next year. Hopefully the sun will shine next time!'