We touched recently on how many of our runners represent their schools in cross country events. This week saw Will Marshall once more in action in this prestigious race, which attracts schools from all over the country. Ermysted's came home in 6th place, which is a good performance considering that some of their team members, including Billy Pinder and Will Marshall, were competing against older boys. Next year, they will be older and stronger and perhaps we can look forward to our local Grammar School securing a top three finish. This would be quite an achievement against nationwide competition.

Will Marshall ran the 5th leg in a time of 12:58.The school also entered a B team which included young Phil Done.This will give him valuable experience of this event and should bode well for his future appearances in this race.

Full results

This is a quality race and has been recognised as such by being included this year in the Run the Moors Grand Prix, a competition between 6 participating area clubs. The popularity of this race is growing and it would be nice this year to see a few more Wharfedalers taking it on.

The results are now out for this race, which was won by Lee Athersmith of Bingley Harriers. The only Wharfedaler who took part was Keiron Ashworth, who finished 43rd out of 46 finishers. There were 9 DNFs, apparently due to navigational errors.

Thanks to Tim Done for the pictures of this race. Results and further details follow in due course. More pictures from Tim are in the gallery.

Once more Andy Holden was out and about with his video camera and his footage of the day is now available on U Tube. Another good video from the master.

View Wharfee's Video

This is a new book which has just been published and is a collection of articles written by various fell runners, including two Wharfedalers. All profits are going to the UK Mountain Rescue. The book is available on line from

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The results for this meeting are now out and they once more reveal success for our growing band of youngsters. In the U12 boys race, Josh Newbold ran out the winner, with team mate Charlie Lowrie on his tail in second place. Charles Smith was not that far behind these two in 5th place.

In the U14 boys, Ben Johnstone just managed to hold off Phil Done to take first place.

With four races completed, it would be nice to see the League Tables to see how everyone is faring overall.

Wharfedale member Andy Holden, aka Wharfeego, must be the best producer of fell running videos, bar none. Below is the link to his latest production.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=05T5VmkjX0o

These have now been updated following the race at Fell End Clouds and are available in excel format from the link below.

Kendal Winter League Tables

It was a beautiful day and almost perfect conditions for this event. In the seniors, Paul Crabtree led home the Wharfedalers ahead of Jack Smith. Tim Done was the third Wharfedaler. It was good to see 13 junior Wharfedalers out on the fells and our leading youngsters finished as follows:

U12 Boys
• 2 Josh Newbold
• 3 Charlie Lowrie

U14 Boys
• 1 Ben Johnstone
• 2 James Hall
• 3 Phil Done

Thanks to Tim Done for the above pictures. Further pictures from Tim are in the gallery.

Ostensibly, this is a walk covering 22 miles with 3,3oo ft of ascent. In practice, half of the entries are usually runners and this year, it attracted 7 Wharfedalers. Their finishing times and positions were as follows:

•   14 Paul Crabtree 3:17:37
•   22 Nick Charlesworth 3:26:09
•   23 Chris Holmes 3:28:09
•   58 Simon Franklin 3:56:41
• 129 Carl Bradshaw 4:34:05
• 177 Raj Madhas 5:09:07
• 187 Emma Dodd 5:19:19

A dry and very cold morning greeted 233 runners at this year's Winter Hill 11 mile / 2750 ft fell race. Good conditions for the time of year made for fast times with the first four running quicker than the previous record set last year.

Two Wharfedalers took part with finishing times as follows:

•   41 Rob Shaw 1:52:32
• 113 Judy Howells 2:14:01

There was quite thick fog over the hills for most of the day and it looked at though the ascent to the summit of Beamsley Beacon could be challenging. However, as night approached, the fog started to clear and by the start of the run, you could clearly see all the neighbouring towns from the summit.

There were 31 participants in this event and over half of these were Wharfedalers, perhaps reflecting the popularity of night time off road running in the club.

Caren Crabtree and J P Hopkinson started early and chose a difficult route through the heather to the summit. Andy Walmsley of Bowland had no energy in his legs and as he was leading a run on the following night, he decided to pull out.

Out of the main body of runners, Paul Crabtree continued his good form and led everyone out and back, with Wharfedale taking the first six places.

It was another good evening in this series of winter, mid week, off road running events.

Full Finishing Times & Positions

Another very professional production of the day. Watch Andy Holden's latest video from the link below

Fairmile Video

These have now been updated following the race at Fairmile and are available in excel format from the link below.

Kendal Winter League Tables

Callum Lambert	Scott Baistow

The conditions for this race could only be described as treacherous as even the spectators struggled to keep on their feet on the snow covered fells.

In the U12s, there was a good win for Josh Newbold who coped well with the conditions and easily outpaced the opposition.

In the U14s race, Ben Johnstone was another one to cope well with the conditions and looked sure footed on the descent to take the victory ahead of Phil Done, who also had a good run. Special mention should be made of Callum Lambert, who ran a brilliant race to take third place for Wharfedale.

In the U17s, Scott Baistow was another Wharfedaler who had a brilliant run and looked set to take third place with 500 yards to go, but unfortunately, it was not to be, as he took a serious tumble which knocked all the stuffing out of him and he appeared too to have hurt his wrist.

In the seniors, Jack Smith had a good race and was in second place, but he was passed by Mike Robinson on the run in and had to settle for third. Sam Watson, on his first run out since October showed no signs of being rusty and came home in 5th place.

Thanks to Tim Done, who is always quick off the mark, for the above pictures. Further pictures from Tim are in the gallery.

Much of the descent in all the races was not done on feet, so look out for some spectacular video footage from Wharfeego later in the week.

Kevin Rogan	Ian Newbold

The above photographs, plus a few more have now been added to the gallery

Phil Done	James Hall

Continuing our feature of what some of our youngsters are doing, both in school and county cross country races, this weekend saw the holding of the postponed cross country championship at Thornes Park, Wakefield.

In the U15 boys, James Hall came in 10th, but 8th Yorkshire counter earning him his Yorkshire vest. Will Smith finished in 13th (11th Yorkshire), so has narrowly missed out. Both are in the younger end of the age group, so prospects for 2011 look good.

Phil Done finished 5th in the U13 boys and 4th Yorkshire counter, so he earned his Yorkshire vest too.

This event was adversely affected by the weather and numbers were down on last year. Those that did attend were greeted by slippy conditions and there were many tumbles all round.

In the junior races, we only had one Wharfedaler, Logan Hargreaves-Madhas and he finished 4th in the U10s.

There was a top team performance from Ted Mason, Jonathan Bradshaw, Paul Crabtree and Jason Hemsley. Sadly, we did not have enough numbers for a ladies team. Christian Holmes and Will Marshall were amongst a group that cut down far too early and found themselves at White Wells, ironically followed by a couple of Ilkley Harriers.

The finishing times and places for all Wharfedalers were as follows:

•    10 Ted Mason 43:52
•    11 Jonathan Bradshaw 44:01
•    12 Paul Crabtree 44:47
•    15 Jason Hemsley 45:54
•    16 Pete Keron 46:28
•    49 Will Smith 52:34
•    54 Carl Bradshaw 53:29
•    77 Tamara Hird 55:20
•    78 Gill Myers 55:21
• 188 Keiron Ashworth 71:45
• DNF Will Marshall
• DNF Christian Holmes

Andy Wolfenden was out with his video camera on Sunday and if you want to either re-live the race, or see what it was like, click on the links below:

Ilkley Moor Fell Race Part One
Ilkley Moor Fell Race Part Two
Ilkley Moor Fell Race Part Three

The suspense is over. From the best producer of fell running videos bar none, some dramatic footage of this event.

Wharfee's Video - Skid Marks on the Summit

Paul Carman	Kirsty Hall

Just a couple of picture from today's race. Further pictures are in the gallery.

The conditions on the day were harsh. It was cold, there was a touch of snow in the air and it was wet and boggy underfoot. Paul Carman did not finish, but it was nothing too serious - he just ran out of fuel. A couple of biscuits and he started feeling a bit better, but brassed off that he had to pull out. Cathy Bradley also suffered in the race. At one point, she was leading Judy and Kirsty, but she crocked her ankle about 2 miles from the finish and when they passed her, she was sat down trying to rub the pain out. Mark McGoldrick was another one to suffer from the conditions. Apparently, he lost places because he took a tumble and whacked his knee. However, it was not all bad news, Sam Watson had another good run in only his second race since he injured his ankle in October. Another Wharfedaler to have a good run was Paul Crabtree. What a pity he cannot count until July. There were lots of Wharfedale ladies out in this race and were led home by Gill Myers.

The Wharfedalers finished as follows:

•   46 Paul Crabtree 76:47
•   53 Sam Watson 77:38
•   61 Christian Holmes 77:56
•   64 Bruce Elsworth 78:33
•   79 Jason Hemsley 79:48
• 141 Mark McGoldrick 84:32
• 251 Gill Myers 95:51
• 256 Tamara Hird 96:17
• 266 Carl Bradshaw 97:26
• 278 Tim Done 99:00
• 296 Louisa Pickles 100:45
• 318 Judy Howells 103:49
• 319 Kirsty Hall 103:54
• 333 Cathy Bradley 104:50
• 389 Sue Narey 115:09
• 411 Emma Dodd 131:54
• DNF Paul Carman
  
  Well done to Todmorden Harriers as provisional results were published within hours of the race finishing.

Charlie Lowrie	Ellamae Gibson

This is a superb series of races and like Bofra, they do a lot to promote fell running for youngsters. They are all well organised, but it is a pity that they seem to have a problem when it comes to producing results. After seven days, we are still waiting for the results from last week. As a consequence, there is an even greater delay in producing the league tables which are so much an integral part of this series.

Against this background we have only brief and often anecdotal of how our runners fared. This week, Josh Newbold continued his stunning season in the U12s, once more taking first place. You would think that he would be leading the league in his age group, but who knows?

In the U14s this week, we welcome a new Wharfedale runner to this group. He is of course Phil Done and joins his parents who are already Wharfedalers. This means that in this age group, we have four runners, who on their day have the beating of anyone and as a team, they must be pretty invincible. It says a lot for the enthusiasm and youth coaching abilities of David Hird that we are able to attract so many talented youngsters to the club. Let us hope that the friendly rivalry between club mates will bring the best out in them all.

Going on from this, Wharfedale dominated the U14s, taking the first four places and this was with Phil Done still recovering from a sickness bug from which he suffered earlier in the week. Their final positions were as follows:

• 1 James Hall
• 2 Will Smith
• 3 Ben Johnstone
• 4 Phil Done

Further details will follow in due course. Pictures from both Andy Holden and Tim Done, are now in the gallery. Further pictures from Andy Holden follow shortly.

Gill Myers
Not only was Gill the first Wharfedale lady home in this race, but she was also the first FV50. To achieve this in a championship race is quite a distinction.

It is good to see a few of our youngsters competing at a national level in the cross country races.. In the U15s, James Hall finished in 95th place and Ben Johnstone came home 244th.

In the U17s, Jonathan Bradshaw finished in 95th place.

Only two seniors entered and Neil Eccles, struggling with injury, finishing in 585th place, whilst Rosie Eccles finished 494th in the ladies race.

The results are now out for this race and can be accessed from the link below.

Full Barbon Results