Again, only brief details of the day. Ted Mason came 2nd in the senior race with Bruce Elsworth in 5th place. In the junior races, it was very similar to Hebden. Jonathan Bradshaw came 1st in the U17 race, followed by Jack Smith. Will Smith took the U14 race, followed by Ben Johnstone and James Hall (what a team). In the U12 race, Oliver Whyte came 1st, with Ellamae Gibson 1st Girl.

Although he won the U17 race, Jonathan Bradshaw made a dramatic fall on the descent and you can see this on U Tube from the following link:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5iBAkpuG0o0

There is also a video of the senior race taken jointly by Andy Holden and Raj Madhas. The advice from Andy is to "pump up the volume", to get the atmosphere and the sound of Roger Ingham's commentary.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A_wiJxScGJU

Logan Hargreaves-Madhas organised a team for the Ilkley Junior relays. They were Charlie Lowrie, Logan, Robbie Johnstone and Charles Smith. They were classed as the younger boys team and called themselves 'Wharfedale Warriers'.There was a mass start and not only did they win the younger boys event, but were in fact the first team to finish in front of all the older age teams.

Other runners were Tommy Lowrie and Sam Jonstone who made up a team with Charlie Lowrie (yes he ran twice) and Sam Wood from Ilkley.

Ben Johnstone ran in a team with 3 other boys and they were first older boys. Ben put in a storming performance as the last runner and must have overtaken three quarters of the field to secure his team's win.

Jason Hemsley and Lynda Hargreaves-Madhas ran the Ilkley Incline after the juniors had finished with Jason finishing in 14th place.

Full results for both events are now in the results section.

This seems to be one of those events where they like to keep the results a secret, so what we know is only anecdotal. The word is that Logan Hargreaves-Madhas won the U9s and his brother Odin won the U14s. James Hall won the U17s and Nicole Narey was 2nd girl in the same race.

A few seniors turned out for this event, but only word we have is that Colin Moses came second and Judy Howells had a good run to finish first lady.

In the senior race, our ladies did well with Cathy Bradley coming home as 1st lady and Val Done finishing 3rd lady. Ted Mason was our first man home in 11th place.

Good results from our juniors with Jack Smith finishing 2nd in the U17s followed by Will Marshall in 3rd place. In the U14s, Will Smith once more took the honours with James Hall in 2nd place. Nicole Narey was 1st girl.

Full results are in the results section.

Oliver Whyte - 2nd U12
We have delayed reporting on this event pending the publication of the results on the Grasmere Sports web site. It is now nearly two weeks since this event took place and still there are are no results available. The web site seems to be more obsessed with what happened 100 years ago than what took place recently. All we can report therefore is what we know and that is that Jonathan Bradshaw won the U17s and Oliver Whyte came 2nd in the U12s. Full details will follow when they are eventually published.

The results are now out and they not only confirm that Sam won the under 23 trophy for the second year running, but that he also knocked a massive seven minutes off last year's time in a year when most times were down on those for 2008. This was an outstanding run from Sam. Other Wharfedalers to improve on last year's time were Chris Newman & Kate Rogan, our first lady home. The winner of the race was Robb Jebb in a time of 1:32:33 (3 mins down on last year). The finishing times and places for all the Wharfedalers were as follows:

•   22 Sam Watson 1:47:43
•   26 Bruce Elsworth 1:50:20
•   29 Chris Newman 1:50:43
• 199 Jonathan Gibson 2:17:07
• 233 Andy Holden 2:21:21
• 257 Kate Rogan 2:26:13
• 338 John Thompson 2:39:55
• 339 Neil Taylor 2:40:09
• 347 Cathy Bradley 2:41:14
• 401 Kieron Ashworth 2:53:04
• 408 Kevin Rogan 2:54:59
• 449 Judy Howells 3:17:30

The full results are in the results section.

Live text of the day as it unfolded:

10:09 Weather wet and more rain forecast for later. Cloud cover down to 500 ft. A few Wharfedalers now at registration.

11:21 Rain now set in with some heavy spells. Red Burn will certainly be in cloud. Runners hoping that they will be able to find the summit. Sarah Rogan's "Guess Your Time" Sweepstake is popular with 16 entrants so far -some optimistic, some pessimistic.

13:00 The're off and up into the mist, heading for the 4,406 ft summit. There are 12 Wharfedalers taking part this year, including 3 ladies. Normally, the winning time is around an hour and a half, with the leading runners looking for a sub 2 hour time. The vets would normally finish after two and a half hours. This year, the runners will have to contend with rain, gales, a summit temperature of 5C and a mountain shrouded in cloud, so the finishing times will be interesting.

17:44 All Wharfedalers back safe and sound. Sam Watson, the 2008 Under 23 Champion, was the first Wharfedaler back in a time of around 1:47. Next was Bruce Elsworth in a time of 1:50 with Chris Newman about 30 seconds later. Jonathan Gibson was the 4th Wharfedaler. The first lady Wharfedaler was Kate Rogan, then Cathy Bradley, then Judy Howells. Kate finished in front of Kevin Rogan and Neil Taylor. Kev had a tumble but carried on. John Thompson had a great run, finishing a few seconds ahead of Neil. Kieron Ashworth had his usual bloodied fall, but like a true Wharfedaler went on to finish. Andy Holden was 5th Wharfedaler, but conditions were too poor for him to use his video camera. Conditions have been worse, but it was a bit grim in the rain at the summit. Everyone is heading off now for food and beer.

22:06 It has been confirmed that for the second year running that Sam Watson is the U23 Champion.

A couple of Wharfedalers went up for this race, Tamara Hird and Andy Hirst. This was Andy's first race as a V50 and he was a bit disappointed that he was 7th in this class. He was however 49th in a time of 2hrs 28mins 17secs, which he was happy about. There are no details at the moment of Tamara's position or time.

At 10 miles with 5000 ft of ascent, this race is just a warm up for Andy, as next week when he will be running 48 miles with 17,000 ft of ascent, when he takes on the Joss Naylor Challenge. In addition to completing this run under 12 hours, he has to raise money for charity. Anyone wishing to donate to Andy's cause can do so at http://www.justgiving.com/Andrew-Hirst/

Charles Smith 2nd U12	James Hall U14 Winner	Nicole Narey 3rd U17 Girl

This local event saw a few of our youngsters in action and with the following results:

Under 9
• 1 Adam Gibson

U12
• 2 Charles Smith
• 4 Ellamae Gibson - 1st Girl

U14
• James Hall
• Will Smith

U17
• 2 Jonathan Bradshaw
• Nicole Narey 3rd Girl

A few pictures of the prize winners are in the gallery and the full results are in the results section.

What was happening ten years ago at Burnsall? Well Ted Mason was there. He was a good descender then and he came second. Andy Holden was there and finished just behind Colin Moses! There were quite a few present day Wharfedalers out for this event. See how they performed and read the report from the links below.

1999 Burnsall Race Report
1999 Burnsall Race Results

Hebden Sports
We have had more pictures from this event than soft mick. A few more, from Tim Done, have now been added to the gallery

Andy setting off from Pooley Bridge	Andy arriving at Greendale Bridge

Andy Hirst completed the 48 mile / 17,000 ft Joss Naylor Challenge, but failed to do it within the stipulated 12 hours. It seems ironical that he was probably the victim of the weather being too nice. When he left Pooley Bridge, there was a bit of gentle mist around on the valley floor, but this quickly dissipated to leave a cloudless sky with endless sunshine. Not only that, but even on the fell tops, there was hardly any breeze. In the cool morning air and aided by Sam Watson and Paul Carman, Andy completed the first section ahead of schedule. On leg two, he lost a little time, but set off on leg three back on schedule again. However, by this time, the heat from the sun was at its highest and this relentless heat gradually began to take its toll. By the end of leg three, Andy had not only fallen behind his own schedule, but was falling outside the 12 hour schedule set by Joss Naylor. Leg four is a hard leg just to run on its own, without completing the previous three and although the sun was losing some of its heat, it was still hot on the tops and it was still without any breeze. It would have taken a super human effort to make up time on this leg, but the day had taken its toll and it was not to be. Andy completed the course to a rousing welcome from the Wharfedalers who were waiting to greet him, but it was outside the 12 hour window set down by Joss Naylor. This grand old man of fell running graciously came out of his cottage to greet Andy and they had a few words together about the day.

In some ways, this was a disappointing end for Andy and his supporters, but let us get this into perspective. This is a very tough challenge and a very demanding one to make on a fifty year old runner and there are not many out there who could complete the course, let alone do it in under 12 hours. Andy completed the course and it is a great credit to him that he was able to do so and he should feel proud of his achievement.

There were a many pictures taken of the day by helpers and pacers and these will be collated together into a complete picture gallery as soon as possible

In the meantime, Andy has not only done this as a personal challenge, but to raise money for charity and you can still recognise Andy's effort by making a donation from the link below.

http://www.justgiving.com/Andrew-Hirst/

The Bofra season is now drawing towards its close and this weekend saw the usual crowd of Wharfedalers competing for the final places. In the seniors, Ted Mason was 3rd, followed by Sam Watson in 6th place and Iain Gibbons in 9th.

Jonathan Bradshaw increased his stranglehold on the U17 Championship by finishing 1st with Jack Smith coming home in 3rd place.

In the U14s, the "Wharfedale Train", which was this time 4 members, had to settle for 2nd to 5th places, behind race winner Kristian Edwards from Tamworth. The Wharfedale runners were 2 Ben Johnstone, 3 James Hall, 4 Will Smith and 5 Alex Speight. What a team! Nicole Narey was first girl.

In the U12s Lloyd Davies was 3rd boy and Ellamae Gibson was 2nd girl.

Two more races to go in the championship, with Embsay next Sunday.

Judy Howells took some video footage of the day and it is available on U Tube from the following link:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GAkqeSlTB8c

Full Results

Logan Hargreaves-Madhas, Robbie Johnstone Adam Gibson	John Lockwood, Ben Johnstone, James Hall
Sue Narey, Nicole Narey, Ellamae Gibson	Ben Johnstone, Race Winner and First Local

The Lothersdale Show Fell Race is only a fairly short one and without the participation of Wharfedale Harriers, it would have been a very sad affair, with Wharfedale members making up over half of the field. Everyone ran together from U9s to seniors, with the juniors making up two thirds of the field. Ben Johnstone won the race and he was also first local. He was followed home by our other U14s, James Hall and John Lockwood.

First U9 home was Robbie Johnstone, followed by Logan Hagreaves-Madhas and Adam Gibson.

The youngsters all enjoyed doing a "proper" fell race course with the really steep climb out of the village and the subsequent scrambling over the field walls.

Let us hope that in the future this race will once more attract its share of senior runners, who in recent years seem to have boycotted it.

Full Results

Raj Madhas had a go in this race at the weekend. Although it is described as a half marathon, it is really 15 miles and he did it in a time of 2 hours and 37 minutes. He says that it was a really well organised event, a pretty good route with great food at the finish and a quality t-shirt to boot.

Full results are in the results section.

Andy Hirst with pacers Sam Watson & Pete Carman	Andy Hirst near Aik Beck

Andy Hirst is recovering from his run and has written a report of the day. This is available from the link below, as is a breakdown of his progress of the day, with his times at the various rest points and summits.

Andy's Report
Schedule

Judy Howells has remastered her video of this race and incorporated a few stills. View the new video at:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IaGYx6eFJwI

Bob Hamilton
This is a bit of a different challenge and Bob Hamilton (he was the first ever Wharfedale Webmaster) is taking it on. As well as a personal challenge, he is also raising money for charity. All the details of what he is doing can be found on the links below.

Bob's Summary of what he is taking on
Cent Cols Website
Web Site for on line charitable donations

A bit late reporting this race which saw Mark McGoldrick return to running after his fairytale honeymoon in Bali. He finished the race in 6th place with James Webb of Wharfedale coming home in 84th place.

Nine Wharfedalers went up for this race which proved to be a test of navigational skills in the low cloud. Ted Mason was the first Wharfedaler home in 7th place, followed by Chris Newman in 24th place and Andy Hirst in 71st place. Ted has sent in a brief report of the day as follows:

Girls get lost

A few people went wrong in this race including early leader Ricky Lightfoot for one, race winner Chris Steel for two, plus all the Wharfedale girls for three more. Keiron Ashworth had a DNF because his shoe lace came undone . All the other lads did the full course without extra bits. We finished as follows:

• Ted Mason 7th
• Chris Newman 24th
• Andy Hirst (under 12 hours)
• Thod Gibson (just behind a girl)
• Simon Franklin (new member)
• Cathy Bradley (13.75 miles)
• Tamara Hird (14.83 miles)
• Kate Rogan (16 miles ish)

Well done girls. Get them miles in. Ted

There are the first 60 positions in the results section, together with times for the top twenty. The full results will be posted as soon as they are available.

The penultimate race in the Bofra season once more saw Sam Watson lead the Wharfedalers home. He finished in 5th place and was followed by Iain Gibbons in 10th place and Nick Cunningham in 15th.

With Jonathan Bradshaw up in the North East, Will Marshall romped home in the U17s race.

Our bunch of U14s is truly awesome. There were five Wharfedalers in this category and they took the first five places.

The U12s saw Lloyd Davies finished in 3rd place and Lucy Horrocks was 2nd girl in the U9s.

The winning time this year was 19:22. Ten years ago it was 19:20. It just shows that standards have not dropped. Compare this race with that of ten years ago from the links below.

1999 Embsay Results
1999 Embsay Report

We think that the above picture from the archives was taken 15 years ago at the Bofra Dinner. Can anyone identify all the prize winners in the picture?

Answers to Graham Wadsworth

Six Wharfedalers went up to Wasdale for this race. A field of 73 set out, with Nick Fish coming home 1st in 59.06. Jack Smith was runner up junior. Both Jack Smith and Scott Baistow had blinding runs. Scott overtook Cathy Bradley on the rocky descent and he was going like a train. He must not like women overtaking him! Bruce Elsworth was "King of the Mountains" for the second year running. Cathy Bradley was runner up in the "Queen of the Mountains, so she is a princess. Lynn Whittaker was official photographer for the day, so hopefully a few photographs follow, together with the results. In the meantime the finishing times and positions for the Wharfedalers were as follows:

• 11 Bruce Elsworth 63.55
• 13 Jack Smith 65.14
• 38 Andy Holden 76.36
• 40 Scott Baistow 77.13
• 47 Cathy Bradley 79.50 (4th lady)
• 68 Mark Bennett 105.02

Just two Wharfedalers turned out to do this race at Cliviger. A little bit disappointing considering it's a cracking race which was run in ideal conditions underfoot with some nice late summer sunshine. The race was won by Ben Mounsey for the second time. It was nice to see Wharfedale's John Perry back racing. He came home in 17th place with a time of 37.16 and Barry Scholes came home in 36th place in 42.21 and 2nd V55. Not bad out of the 112 runners that finished.

Quite a few Wharfedalers are also pretty good on bikes and a few took part in this competition. Their finishing places were as follows:

• 30 Colin Moses 3:31:33
• 37 Pete Keron 3:36:07
• 46 Jason Hemsley 3:41:28
• 179 Kevin White 4:17:22
• 220 Sam Watson 4:26:43

Full results are in the results section.

This race attracted three Wharfedalers, including two new members, Chris Thornton & Rohan Akers. And very well they did too, for out of 160 runners, they came home as follows:

• 19 Rob Shaw 1:46:50
• 20 Chris Thornton 1:47:11
• 34 Rohan Akers 1:53:16

The full results are now in the results section.