Bruce Elsworth, Cathy Bradley and Keiran Ashworth had a go at the "short race", which is 9 miles and 3,000 ft. Bruce won it in 1 hour 44 minues. Cathy was 2nd lady in 2 hours 15 minutes. At the moment, there are no details for Keiran. It was not a marked course and Cathy made the mistake of following 6 people only to find that she had to retrace her steps to the first and second checkpoints. That was when a lady got in front of her that she sadly could not catch and she finished 2 minutes behind her. Otherwise, it would have been a "his and hers" clean sweep.

In the full race, four Wharfedalers took part and their finishing positions out of 218 starters were as follows:

•   65 Andy Black 3:56.29
•   87 Andy Hirst 4:09:57
• 113 Pete Jackson 4:22:04
• 126 Kirsty Hall 4:28:40

Full results of both races are in the results section.

As usual, a good group of Wharfedalers went up for this race, both seniors and juniors. The main points are that in the seniors, Chris Newman finished 4th followed by Sam Watson in 5th place and Bruce, fresh from, or should that be jaded from, his 9 mile run the previous day, finished in 7th place.

Amongst the juniors, it was nice to see that Scott Baistow was 3rd boy in the U17s. In the U14s, Alex Speight gained 2nd place, followed by Ben Johnstone who was 3rd. The U12s saw Ellamae Gibson as 1st girl and in the U9s, Wharfedale had the first boy in Robbie Johnstone and the first girl in Lucy Horrocks

Neil Taylor has written an unbiased report of the day. Read Neil's Report

Full results are in the results section.

Kirsty Hall was designated by the Wharfedalers who went up for this race as the reporter for the day and her story of her run is now available. Read Kirsty's Report

Lucas Payne was one of the three Wharfedalers who had a run out in this hilly road race. His account of the day is as follows:

I came 12th in about 1:35:53 - a little bit disappointing. I did a 55 mile hilly bike ride the Friday before and I set off a bit too quick. I foolishly tried to keep up with a V50 fellow called Thornton Tailor, who ran me into the ground. I think it was my come-upance for taking him the week before at the Colne 10k. James ran a 1:41:49 26th place. He must have been cruising because I dropped him off and he ran the last 3 miles of the race with Emma, half of it running backwards! Emma, bless her, ran superbly in 2:17:40. The course is very hilly and the weather was baking hot.

Full results are in the results section.

Only Barry Scholes took part in this race which was won by Chris Livesey of Preston Harriers. As for Barry, he had a good run, finishing 40th out of a field of just over 100 and he was also first V55.

Full race details follow

Once more a pleasant evening greeted the runners for this challenging and interesting race. The outright winner was Ricky Lightfoot, who had already built up a good lead by CP1 and he finished in a time of 58:39, which was a new record.

Of the Wharfedalers, Bruce Elsworth, running this race for the first time, continued his present good form to lead the team home. He was followed by Chris Newman and Sam Watson who both improved on their times for last year. Another first timer, Paul Carman also put in a good performance on a course where previous experience is a definite advantage. Jonathan Gibson returned to face the challenge again and improved on his finishing place of last year.

Our of girls, Kate Rogan was first home, closely followed by another first timer Cathy Bradley. All the first timers resolved to have another go next year.

This is a lovely race, in a lovely setting and with a lovely atmosphere and thanks must go to Anthony Labram, other members of Eden Runners and all marshals and helpers who put on such a well organised event.

The finishing positions and times for the Wharfedalers were as follows:

•    7 Bruce Elsworth 1:07:30
• 10 Chris Newman 1:08:25
• 15 Sam Watson 1:10:12
• 28 Paul Carman 1:15:55
• 67 Jonathan Gibson 1:25:55
• 85 Kate Rogan 1:30:08
• 94 Cathy Bradley 1:32:18

Full results are now in the results section.

Angela Gray	Angela Gray

Pete and Angie went to Austria last week for a last minute holiday in the Tirol. The weather was better than it looks on the first photo for most of the week and they got lots of scenic runs and walks (not to mention cakes and beer) around a beautiful part of the world. The first photo was taken towards the end of a long day that included a 2,300m peak (9km and 1100m ascent) and then a 16km ridge run between 1700 and 1800m. Maybe a good destination for a Wharfedale club holiday sometime?

Sam Watson	Paul Carman

A couple of our runners on the down hill stretch after reaching CP1.

A small group of ladies made the long journey to Church Stretton on Saturday to take part in this race, which is the second counter in the FRA English Championships series. This event had a separate race for the ladies over a new short course covering 5.75miles with 2500ft of climbing. The weather conditions however were less than ideal with continuous heavy rain, cold wind and mist throughout the day, making navigation difficult in places over this otherwise well flagged and marshalled route. It was such bad weather that most people opted to wear thermals, hats or indeed full body cover on this June day. However despite the conditions, the team performed well finishing in 5th position overall, securing some points on the leader board with Tamara 25th, Judy 34th and Kirsty 42nd. The lovely cafe afterwards helped to dry and comfort the runners. However it was a shame no-one got to see the views of the beautiful Carding Mill Valley!

Full results are in the results section.

Five Wharfedalers went down for this 3.4 mile / 700 ft race. They were led home by Ben Johnstone! The results for all Wharfedalers were:

• 24 Ben Johnstone 26:12
• 46 Barry Scholes 28:30
• 73 James Webb 36:15
• 76 Brian Hugill 38:38

In the ladies races, Lynn Whittaker was 9th with a time of 31:38.

A few Wharfedalers entered this event and together they produced some outstanding results. In the full marathon Rob Shaw came third in a time of 3:11:05.

In the half marathon, all Wharfedalers were in the top five as follows:

• 2 Gareth Hird 1:31:43
• 4 Bruce Elsworth 1:36:31
• 5 Jason Hemsley 1:39:14

As you would expect, Andy Hirst was there for this 23 miles / 7,500 ft Lakeland Classic. The conditions were more akin to a race in February as June, but they seemed to suit this master of long distance fell running and his finishing position of 38th was a considerable improvement on the 56th place he achieved last year. His report of the day, always a good read, is available from the link below.

Read Andy's Report

This next race in the Bofra season takes place this coming Sunday and once again, Barry Scholes has sent in the report from 10 years ago.

With only a slight delay caused by exams, the June Newsletter is now available. Download your copy from the link below.

June Wharfedaler

Nine Wharfedalers took part in this race, although the results have been hard to come by. However, results of sorts are now in the results section. Of the nine Wharfedalers, three had a top ten finish, led by Goldie, who is now getting back to his old form. Jonathan Bradshaw is making an impression in the senior races, finishing as second Wharfedaler. The times and places for all Wharfedalers were as follows:

•     5 Mark McGoldrick 52:32
•     8 Jonathan Bradshaw 53:09
•     9 Sam Watson 53:20
•   14 Pete Keron 54:25
•   22 Andy Black
•   35 Jack Smith 60:07
•   47 Simon Franklin
•   91 John Thompson 70:28
• 105 Raj Madhas 74:42

No results or details in for this race at the moment, but the word on the fells is that it was won by Mark McGoldrick.

Further details follow.

Forty three teams entered this event including eight ladies teams. It is two people to each leg. Wharfedale entered a ladies team and Tamara's report of the day is below

Mens Teams

• 1 Pudsey & Bramley 5:38:52
• 2 Bingley Harriers 5:44:54
• 3 Keighley & Craven 5:56:47

Womens Teams

• 19 Keighley & Craven 7:25:57
• 23 Bingley Harriers 7:33:06
• 29 Horsforth 7:50:48
• 35 Wharfedale 8:12:19

Full results are in the results section in excel format.

Tamara's Report

Andy Holden's video of the day now available at:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jbo5EaEclCA&feature=channel_page

Lucy Horrocks	Tommy Lowrie

It was a particularly good day for our youngsters at this event. In the U17s, we had first and second places with Jonathan Bradshaw and Jack Smith. In the U14s, we again took the first two places with Ben Johnstone and Will Smith and we also had first girl with new member Nicole Narey. In the U12s, Ellamae Gibson was the first girl and Oliver Whyte was 3rd boy and in the U9s, we had both first boy and first girl with Robbie Johnstone and Lucy Horrocks.

To round off a good day, Ted Mason won the seniors race.

There are some excellent pictures of the whole event on David Brett's Website

Will Marshal has written a report of the day. Will's Report

Full results are in the results section.

Well, it is true. Mark McGoldrick did win this race and is perhaps confirmation that he is certainly getting back to form. Results for all five Wharfedalers out on the night were as follows:

•   1 Mark McGoldrick 31:19
• 11 Sam Watson 33:37
• 17 Paul Carmen 34:39
• 66 Cathy Bradley 40:30 5th lady
• 84 Lynn Whittaker 44:32 11th lady

James, Richard & Samuel Wadsworth
During the day, it looked like the weather was once more not going to be kind for this race, but in the after noon the rain cleared away to produce almost perfect racing conditions. Again, there was a good field of just below a hundred runners who set off to tackle this deceptive course.

Reflecting his current form, Bruce Elsworth had a fine run to run out to take first place. Also with a good run was Stephen Bottomley of Pudsey & Bramley who finished in 2nd place overall and was first Vet 40. Another Wharfedaler who is recording improved times this year is Sam Watson, who took third place, just ahead of the first junior Jack Thompson. Completing the top five was Keiran Horrigan, who was also first Vet 45. All these runners put in good performances.

Further down the field there was an outstanding performance from Mel Hyder, who is not only a junior, but she was also the first female finisher. This young lady has a lot of talent and a great future in fell running beckons her.

The event also brought together all the Wadsworth brothers and this was the first time that they all appeared in a single race for over ten years. James, who now lives in Italy, was on holiday in England and although none of them are now doing very much running, they decided to get together for old time's sake and have a steady run out.

Another remarkable performance was from young Sam Horrocks. He was not that far behind James Webb and he was certainly not the last. And when he crossed the finish line, he was still smiling.

Full results are now in the results section.

With this race scheduled for Sunday, it is interesting to look back and see what things were like ten years ago and to see how some of the runners today were performing then. A race report and results for Helm Hill 1999, kindly submitted by Barry Scholes, are available below.

1999 Race Report
1999 Results

Bruce Elsworth decided to take full advantage of his 2 nights off work – not only did he have a great run at Weets on Wednesday to have a clear win, but decided to head up to Kettlewell on the following night for a new race organised by Abbey Runners. The race is very similar to Weets. It is 5 miles with 2000ft of climbing. It follows the same route as the Bofra race, but continues over the fell top, taking a fast descent down to Arncliffe. There, the route turns back up the fell before dropping down a fast loose stone track to the finish.

Bruce came in 1st – in 39.30, well clear of the next man. There was also a good field of 16 ladies taking part with Karen Pickles coming in 1st lady with Heather Dawe 2nd. Cathy Bradley was 6th lady in 49 minutes and 18th overall. There were 41 runners in total, which is a great turn out for a new race. Abbey are a really friendly club and there was great soup in The Bluebell afterwards! There were loads of prizes – it was almost like Dave Woodhead throwing chocolate round the pub at Haworth!

Hector Haines	Ted Mason

The video of the day, in two parts and taken by Andy Holden, is available for viewing from the links below.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xxJzQEVb_PI
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZHyuCpnKpD8&feature=channel_page

There were slightly fewer numbers at Buckden this year, mainly due to the clash with championship race at Tebay. However, this probably made it more in keeping with the original intentions of the day and that is a traditional fell race at a traditional Dales village gala.

The race starts with a steep ascent out of the village and at the fell gate, Hector Haines had already taken the lead. He increased this as the race progressed and when he reached the first marshal on the tops, second man, Ted Mason was nowhere in sight. In fact, the first three places were decided on the ascent. Ted managed, with his renown descending skills, to close the gap on the way back, but the lead built up was too great and Hector Haines could afford to take the final steep descent at a steady pace and ensure victory. It was a good skillful all round performance from the winner.

It was a similar position in the ladies race. Lisa Lacon built up a good lead on the ascent which was too large for second placed lady Helen Glover to close.

Mention should also be made of Robert Cutts. He has taken part in every Buckden Pike race and although he celebrated his seventieth birthday in February, this did not stop him returning to complete his twenty eighth consecutive race. Quite a remarkable achievement from quite a remarkable runner.

Photographs of the day are now available from:

Andy Hirst
Sam Wadsworth
Sam Watson
David Emmerson

In summary, the first three men's places were:

• 1 Hector Haines, Ilkley, 34:14
• 2 Ted Mason, Wharfedale, 35:14
• 3 Tom Anderson. Winchester, 35:59

The first three ladies were:

• 1 Lisa Lacon, Holmfirth, 41:43
• 2 Helen Glover, Keighley & Craven, 43:04
• 3 Kate Rogan, Wharfedale, 50:50

First junior was Will Marshall who was 14th overall.

First team was Wharfedale Harriers.

Full Results

On the night, Will Marshall was Will the marshal and he took the opportunity to take some video footage of the race. It is in two parts and they are available from the links below. Part one mainly concentrates on Wharfedalers and part two included most of the rest of the field. They are bothe best view in high quality.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dOd96njKy4E
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YyZqN7YCK-M&feature=channel_page

For the second time this weekend, top ten finishes by Bruce Elsworth, Mark McGoldrick and Lucas Payne, ensured that Wharfedale Harriers were the first team. The Wharfedale turnout was completed by Keiron Ashworth who finished in 46th place. The finishing times and places were as follows:

•   2 Bruce Elsworth 58:10
•   3 Mark McGoldrick 59:24
•   8 Lucas Payne 62:34
• 46 Keiron Ashworth 79:38

Full results are in the results section.

Two races in two days for Colin Moses and impressive finishing places for both of them. He was 4th at this race and 7th at Buckden Pike.

Full results are in the results section.

The main news is that Gareth Hird won the race in a time of 38:18 and was the first of four Wharfedalers in the top ten. He finished ahead of Richard Barrett of Skipton and Niall Bourke of Pudsey & Bramley. Lucas Payne confirmed his recent good form by finishing in 4th place, just ahead of Pete Keron and Marcus Rae returned to the fells to finish in 10th place.

Will Smith had an excellent run to finish as 5th Wharfedaler and first junior.

The first lady home was Jenny Guard of Leeds City. Second lady was Mary Green of Bingley and the third was Judy Howells of Wharfedale.

Full Results

The results are now in for this championship race and Tamara Hird has sent in report of the day.

Read Tamara's Report

Whilst a lot of Wharfedalers went to the Beamsley Beacon race, there was one sole runner in this race and that was Keiron Ashworth. He came home in 56th place in a time of 36:07.

A brief text message has been received from Carl to say that Jonathan Bradshaw came 12th and England came 3rd. The English positions were:

•   5 Billy Pinder
• 12 Jonathan Bradshaw
• 23 Ashley Kay

Full details are in the results section.

Steve Cram with Will Smith, Jessica Sanchez, Saline De-Kamps and David Hird
Steve Cram took some time out this weekend to meet local young athletes who enjoyed chatting to him, jogging with him and having their pictures taken with him. Apparently, he was really good with the youngsters and it is really great to see that someone who has achieved so much is willing to put time in to encouraging the next generation.

There are more pictures of the day in the gallery.

Quite a few Wharfedalers went to the Beamsley race, but Barry Scholes and Keiron Ashworth gave it a miss and went to this race instead. Their positions out of 165 finishers were:

•   73 Barry Scholes 37:47
• 105 Keiron Ashworth 41:07

The results are now available for these races and Wharfedale had nine youngsters taking part with Charlie Lowrie winning the U10s race. The positions for all our runners were:

U8s

•   3 Logan Hargreaves-Madhas
•   4 Sam Johnstone
• 10 Tommy Lowrie

U10s

• 1 Charlie Lowrie
• 5 Robbie Johnstone

U14s

•   4 Ben Johnstone
• 16 Nicole Narey

U16s

• 13 Scott Baistow

U18s

• 2 Jonathan Bradshaw

Charlie Lowrie Uphill - U10 Champion
We only have sketchy details of this event at the moment, but the main news in that Logan Hargreaves-Madhas came 2nd in the U8s, with Tommy Lowrie getting a top ten finish in the same category. Charlie Lowrie became the U10s English Uphill Champion, beating Charles Smith of Ilkley

It is thought that Will Smith came 7th in the U14s with Nicole Narey also competing in this top flight group.

A few seniors also took part, with Barry Scholes finishing 2nd V50 and new member Val Done was apparently 3rd lady.

Further details follow.

Lucas Payne was the only Wharfedaler to take on this race, which is part road and part off road. He reports that he found the long run out of Laneshaw Bridge very hard and that he was not happy with his sprint finish at the end. However, he still managed a top ten place.

Full results are available in the results section.

At 9:02 this morning, Lindsey gave birth to a baby daughter, Hannah Lauren Beilby. She weighed 7lbs 13oz at birth and both mum and baby are doing great.

At 13 miles and 7000 ft of climbing, this race is tough. But it is actually tougher than those figures portray, as it is over some very rough terrain. It was maybe a race for Andy Hirst and Pete Jackson, but surprisingly, they did not attempt it. It was left to the girls to show us what they were made of and Judy Howells and Kirsty Hall put on a great performance came in as joint 5th ladies. It was not easy though and you can read all about it from Kirsty's report below.

Kirsty's Report

Full results are in the results section.

Nicole Narey mixing it with the seniors
There were some big names at this race, but that did not put off a couple of our juniors testing themselves at this level. They were the only U14s and were the youngest runners in the race, but they certainly did credit to themselves. Ben Johnstone came home in 22nd position and Nicole Narey finished 79th out of 111 finishers. Well done to these two youngsters. They can only get better with age.