It was a busy weekend, with several race and events taking place on Saturday. A few Wharfedalers took on the Fairfield Horseshoe Fell Race and the provisional results are shown below

•   86 David Ashby - 1:41:40
•   94 Nick Treitl - 1:43:20
• 117 Tamara Hird - 1:45:46 (4th lady)
• 121 Gill Myers - 1:46:16 (5th lady and 1st LV50)
• 141 Steven Plummer - 1:49:25
• 238 Cathy Bradley - 1:59:35 (24th lady)
• 311 Kieron Ashworth - 2:09:50
• 342 John Thompson - 2:18:34

Once again the ladies performed well and appear to have been second team - TBC when full results come out.

Four Wharfedalers turned out for the Churn Milk Chase on Friday. This was a short fast 3.8m/700' race from Midgley in Halifax onto Crow Hill Nick Charlesworth was our first Wharfedaler home in 8th and it was good to see Christian back running after injury at the Haworth Hobble. Sarah was second lady and rumour has it that Paul Crabtree was saving himself for the Etape Du Dales! (A report to follow on this event).
Wharfedaler positions as follows

•   8 Nicholas Charlesworth V40 Wharfedale 24:10
• 12 Paul Crabtree V40 Wharfedale 24:12
• 16 Christian Holmes Wharfedale 26:00
• 55 Sarah Martin L Wharfedale 35:56

George Carman
Whilst the adults were away competing around the country, two of our juniors were taking part in the Pendle inter-schools event at Seedhill Racetrack for children aged 9 to 11. In a field of 46 runners, our juniors finished as follows:

• 8th Herbie Davis, Trawden
• 9th George Carman, Kelbrook

Gareth Hird	Gareth Hird
Tamara Hird	Will Smith

The third and final race in the John Carr 5km series took place on Monday 17 May. Wharfedale results on the day were as follows:

•     8 Gareth Hird 16:25
•   20 Will Smith 17:03 - 1st junior
•   86 Tamara Hird 19:24 - 6th lady
• 134 Katherine Kirkham 21:01 - 17th lady
• 250 Lionne Roper 29:00

Times were generally slower due to the hot and muggy conditions on the night!

In the overall results for the John Carr series which is based on cumulative time;

• Gareth Hird finished 4th senior man in 48:51 (just missing out on 2nd place by 10 seconds);
• Will Smith finished an incredible 10th overall and 1st junior boy in 50:49; and
• Tamara Hird finished second lady in 57.41.

Congratulations to all who took part.

Being a Wharfedale Harrier is not just about running. We get up to all sorts. The following report details the exploits of some of our finest in an epic cycle race as recalled by Andy Holden.

"110 miles of big Yorkshire Dales road climbs. Starting at Threshfield the route takes in Fleet Moss to Hawes, Buttertubs Pass to Swaledale, Arkengarthdale, Tan Hill, Nateby, Garsdale Coal Road to Dentdale, Ribblehead to Stainforth then over to Halton Gill with a final push down Littondale and Wharfedale to finish back at Threshfield. There were strong side and headwinds over the first half of the route followed by a more pleasant tailwind towards the end.

Several Wharfedalers took part. Jason Hemsley, riding for team Crosstrax, finished in a very fast time of 6 hours 16 mins. This guy is a beast on a bike. A fantastic performance from the quiet man. Next up was talented Gareth Hird in 7 hours 36 mins followed by the young Sam Watson. Finishing 45 mins quicker than his previous fastest time Sam completed the tough course in 7 hours 39 mins. Great result WatDog!

Paul Carmen rode the first half of the course with Sam but dropped off the pace and finished in 7 hours 54 mins. Paul's dad, John, trailed a few seconds behind. Paul Crabtree was next back in 8 hours 12 mins followed 55 mins later by Andy Holden in 9 hours 7 mins. It was Andy's first "big ride" over 100 miles, previously 80 miles was the furthest he'd ever ridden in one day."

So who is inspired to have a go next year? It sounds too big a challenge to miss!

Once again there was a great turnout from Wharfedale for the second BOFRA championship race at Coniston Gullies. 44 Members took on this 1 mile extreme course in the baking sunshine - a lung busting climb followed by a difficult rocky descent.

There were 5 top 10 places for the club in the Senior men's race, with Sam Watson, Jonny Bradshaw and Chris Newman separated by just 9 seconds in 4th, 5th and 6th. Kate Rogan was 1st Lady and Val Done 1st LV40. Andy Holden videoed the race on the hoof so look out for another wharfeego spectacular!

James Hall was 1st under 17, with Declan Bulmer in his debut for the club in 4th. Emma Spencer was 2nd Girl, just 2 seconds behind Mel Hyder from Helm.

The under 14's had Ben Johnstone, Alex Speight and Phil Done in top three positions and just 2 seconds separated Charlie Lowrie and Josh Newbold in the under 12's. Ellie Lambert was first girl finishing 5th overall. In the under 9's Logan Hargreaves-Madhas notched up his first BOFRA win in a spectacular sprint to the finish.

Wharfedale results are shown below, full results can be found on the BOFRA Website

The Old County Tops Fell Race is a 37 mile/10,000ft event (the distance and climb are dependant on whether you go the right or wrong way). The Race starts in Great Langdale and takes in the tops of Helvellyn, Scafell Pike and Coniston after which the survivors are fed and watered.

Andy Hirst took on this enormous challenge in the baking sun. His detailed report of the event can found below.

Andy's report

Wharfedale Harriers had two competitors in the British Police Fell Championships which took place over a grueling 10.5 mile course with 2625 ft ascent in the Peak District. This annual championship race is open to police employees across all 43 forces and on the day it saw Chris Newman representing Cumbria competing against clubmate Tim Done representing West Yorkshire.

The race started in Castleton and crossed over Black Tor Nook into the centre of Edale before the long climb up to the summit of Golden Clough and around the Edale skyline to Grindslow Knoll. Back down into Edale before climbing to the top of Mam Tor then the fast descent to the finish at Castleton. Both started the race with tired legs after very different runs the previous Saturday; Chris doing 15 miles of the Billy Bland Challenge and Tim with notorious 'Sedbergh legs'. It was a baking hot day, with a bit too much tarmac in the valley, but apart from that the route was perfect for a championship race.

Chris put in a storming performance on the day to finish 3rd overall in 1:30:53, just 1 minute and 15 seconds behind the winner and 20 seconds off second place. Tim surprised himself having taken a navigational error which cost him half a mile and a good 5 minutes, to finish 24th overall and 4th V45.

Wharfedale put in strong performances in the resurrected Badger Stone Relays, in which 51 teams competed. There were 37 Senior teams who each ran a 2 mile lap around Ilkley Moor and our Men's team 'The Wrong Holmes' came 2nd overall with the following times:

• Leg 1 - Nick Charlesworth - 14.52
• Leg 2 - Christian Holmes - 15.58
• Leg 3 - Jason Hemsley - 15.46

The 'Wharfedale Lovely Ladies' were 14th overall and first ladies team with the following times:

• Leg 1 - Judy Howells - 18.36
• Leg 2 - Gill Myers - 18.46
• Leg 3 - Tamara Hird - 18.11

In the Junior race, James Hall and Phil Done borrowed Marcus Swift from KCAC to form team 'JMP'. The juniors complete one 2 mile lap and two 1 mile laps. James set them up for a good race finishing his lap in an astonishing 2nd place, Whilst Phil and Marcus kept up the momentum with the two fastest junior laps. Their times are as follows:

• Leg 1 - James Hall - 15:01
• Leg 2 - Marcus Swift - 9:04
• Leg 3 - Phil Done - 7:58

Full results can be found on the Ilkley Harriers Website

Following on from our great performances at the Badger stone relays, six Wharfedalers took part in the Apperley Bridge canter which is a multi-terrain 10k raced over an undulating course on tracks and paths, canal towpath and road. Wharfedale results are as follows:

• 10th - Nick Charlesworth - 37.01
• 11th - Owen Bielby - 37.07
• 17th - Jason Hemsley - 38.14
• 22nd - Christian Holmes - 39.08
• 49th - Simon Franklin - 41.32
• 70th - Tamara Hird - 43.22 - 6th lady
• 204th - Sarah Martin - 51.29

The latest wharfeego production of Coniston Gullies has arrived. There is a bit of movement going on as Andy films whilst competing in the steep and challenging race, so be warned. The video can be found on the following link and is best viewed in 480p (high quality).

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=opj50fBmLm4

As we discuss Andy, words of appreciation are coming in by email. the following comment was sent by a grateful viewer:
Subject: Wharfeego
Date: Thu, 27 May 2010 15:25:07
To: thefellrunner @ hotmail.com; webmaster @ wharfedaleharriers.org.uk

"Hi,
I wanted to pass on my compliments to the person who goes by the above name on Youtube!
I get the impression he's linked to this club so thought I'd email you. Maybe you can pass the email on.
His videos are great and the Wasdale Horseshoe one has inspired an entry to the Langdale Horseshoe race this October.
Hope to see 'Irsty there!
All the best
Josh
Leicester"

The club had a good turnout for the Hutton Roof Crag race, where both the men's and ladies' teams were 3rd on the day. Wharfedale results are as follows:

•     9 Nick Charlesworth - 52.35 - 3rd v40
•   10 Mark McGoldrick - 53.51
•   12 Paul Crabtree - 54.34 - 4th v40
•   15 Jason Hemsley - 55.05 - 5th v40
•   41 Paul Harlowe - 59.48 - 5th v50
•   63 Tamara Hird - 1.02.13 - 3rd lady
•   79 Graham Bird - 1:03:44
• 118 John Thompson - 1.08.35
• 133 Barry Scholes - 1.10.08
• 177 Jean Powell - 1.15.32
• 184 Sally Bissett - 1.16.48
• 195 Sarah Martin - 1.17.28
• 213 Kieron Ashworth - 1.21.37
• 221 Jim Webb - 1.22.32

The juniors also performed well with some winning results as follows:

Under 12 Boys

• 1st Joshua Newbold
• 2nd Robert Lambert

Under 12 Girls

• 1st Ellie Lambert

Under 14 Boys

• 1st Callum Lambert

Owen Beilby	Gareth Hird

A few Wharfedalers took part in the Ilkley Trail Race on Sunday. With two men in the top four, we were just one good result short of picking up the team prize. The senior results are as follows:

• 3rd Gareth Hird - 42.59
• 4th Owen Beilby - 43.05
• 92nd Tamara Hird - 56.04 - 7th Lady
• 203rd Raj Madhas - 66.44

Despite being eligible to run in the 8's, Logan Hargreaves-Madhas thought his race didn't look challenging enough, so he ran in the longer 9-13yrs race. He had a storming run finishing in 8th place (6th boy) in a time of 11:55. Well done Logan!

A small, "elite" group of Wharfedalers endured the potentially Bank 'oliday-pleb-ridden-roads to run at this event which is organised by a great bunch of people from the nearby Achille Ratti climbing club. It's a classic short, steep, technical fell race (especially in low cloud and wet conditions), definitely one for the purist fellrunners amongst us.

Only 26 keen runners entered, 15 more than last year's event. £1 for parking in the field immediately in front of the New DG Hotel (normally parking would be an issue in the Langdale Valley but not for this race). The roads were eerily devoid of the usual weekend plebs, probably due to the not-so-summery weather..bring on the Bank 'ols rain I say! £4 on-day entry fee included copious amounts of warm food which was very welcome.

And so the race began with an easy start up a short section of tarmac, past the New DG Hotel, soon leading to the fell gate. You're not long into some real steep climbing which "seems to go on for ever!" as one runner put it. The race route mostly follows well used walking paths to CheckPoint 1 at the top of Dungeon Ghyll, then on to CP2, the summit of Harrison Stickle at 2415 feet. CP3 was described as 'Foot of crag approx 150M west of Stickle Tarn', easy to find in clear weather, but in low cloud many runners found themselves on the front face of the mountain which, in wet, slippy conditions, made descending more dangerous than usual. It was a relief to drop out of the mist and see the marshal.

A nice grassy run down to CP4, 'Cairn approx 200M north west of Pike Howe', then another technical run on steep, rocky ground back to the fell base and on to the finish field. Sam Watson kept up with the leader, Mike Robinson of Dark Peak Fell Runners (Mike lives on the edge of the Lake District), for most of the race but took a tumble a short distance from the end and finished 2nd a minute later. Sam admitted that he wasn't sure of the route (he wasn't the only one) and used Mike's local knowledge to find the checkpoints and get him safely back to the finish. Both Mike and Sam were well inside the old record with Mike doing a sub 40 mins. Well done WatDog!

Next up came wharfee, Andy Holden, in 11th in just over 52 mins. At one point on the last descent Andy was in a group which was battling it out for 6th place but a wrong route choice found him trailing the group by over a minute at the end. Kate Rogan, never one to baulk at a tough fell course, finished as 2nd lady behind Ambleside's Jane Reedy. Both got well inside the lady's record. Great run Kate.

I should also mention 3 other non-Wharfedalers who we are attached to; Barry Slater from Settle Harriers who finished about 21st and Paul 'n Tom Sessford. Not sure what position Paul finished but I think Tom was 4th, so great run! Definitely a race for the diary next year. Perhaps it could be included in the club championship race list?

Andy Holden

Ellie Lambert	Robbie Johnstone

Wildboarclough was the perfect setting for round 3 of the FRA English junior fell championships, which were staged from the grounds of Crag Hall, the home of the Earl and Countess of Derby. The senior race has been part of local tradition for many years and includes a fast downhill start, a splash through the river before a steep and muddy climb through the woods. A short tarmac section takes runners to the base of Shutlingsloe and an increasingly steep climb to the summit before hurtling back down through the woods to the stream. The sting in the tail is a 400 metre uphill drag to the finish and the only race where you have to touch the walls of the grounds to finish. It is ideal for spectators who can watch the vast majority of the race from the lawned gardens.

The junior championship races follow much of the same route, terminating at various points on the climb, with the U16 and U18 races adding a circuit of the U8 and U10 course at the beginning for good measure. The most outstanding performance in the junior races had to go to Jonny Bradshaw, who entered the finishing straight 10m adrift in second place to Joe Johnstone of Rossendale, but put in a breathtaking sprint at a point where most other competitors were struggling to keep running to win the under 18s race by the same margin.

Emma Spencer continued her strong performances to finish 2nd girl in the Under 16's, whilst Will Smith; despite leading for most of his race was pipped at the post to finish 2nd in the under 14 boy's, ahead of Ben Johnstone in 3rd. Ellie Lambert once again had a top 3 finish in the under 12 girl's race and Richard Done got his second 3rd place of the year in the under 8's.

In keeping with previous years, the Earl of Derby took part in the Senior race, but he proved no match for Simon Bailey who was winner for the 10th year in succession with an outstanding time of 15:15; just 4 seconds outside his record. 105 competitors took place in the short 1.8 mile race, alongside a whole host of juniors who clearly felt that one hard race wasn't sufficient punishment for one day. Wharfedale had 8 seniors and 5 juniors in the race and despite their earlier efforts, it was Wharfedale Juniors who took the overall team prize, with Will Smith beating his victor (Max Wharton) second time around to finish in an incredible 3rd place. Ben Johnstone was 10th and Phil Done 15th.

Dave Spencer was first senior for the club in 14th place, well ahead of Tim Done and Scott Davies who battled neck and neck for the whole race. Herbie Davies was first under 11 and was also rewarded as winner of a pair of Walsh running shoes in the prize draw. In the veteran categories, Sue Narey finished as second LV40 and Roger Hall, even without the aid of his magic socks, was 2nd V60. Wharfedale results are as follows:

Senior Race

•     3 William Smith U16 - 18:03
•   10 Ben Johnstone U16 - 19:32
•   14 David Spencer MV40 - 19:54
•   15 Phil Done U16 - 20:01
•   35 Callum Lambert U16 - 21:55
•   37 Tim Done MV40 - 22:11
•   38 Scott Davies M - 22:15
•   49 Scott Baistow M - 23:03
•   78 Herbie Davies U11 - 26:32
•   81 Sue Narey LV40 - 26:44
•   87 Raj Madhas MV40 - 27:14
•   94 Roger Hall MV60 - 29:07
• 105 Lynda Hargreaves LV40 - 40:01

Under 18's

•   1 Jonny Bradshaw - 17:00
• 16 Scott Baistow - 21:54

Under 16's

• 14 Emma 21:12 (2nd Girl)
• 20 Nicole Narey 30:16 (7th Girl)

Under 14's

•   2 William Smith - 11:17
•   3 Ben Johnstone - 11:25
•   5 James Hall - 11:35
•   7 Phil Done - 12:22
• 18 Callum Lambert - 13:40
• 39 Zoe Baistow - 20:20 (15th Girl)

Under 12's

•   4 Lloyd Davies B - 09:50
•   6 Charlie Lowrie B - 10:02
• 14 Ellie Lambert G - 10:54 (2rd Girl)
• 18 Oliver Spencer B - 11:12
• 20 Herbie Davies B - 11:27

Under 10's

• 4 Robbie Johnstone B - 05:23
• 7 Robert Lambert B - 05:40
• 8 Logan Hargreaves-Madhas B - 05:44

Under 8's

•   3 Richard Done B - 2:53
• 10 Tommy Lowrie B - 3:31

Full results can be found at www.wildboarclough.co.uk/fell_race.htm

One of a number of great races on this Bank Holiday Monday was the Austwick fell race. Seventeen Wharfedalers took part, with Ted and Nick narrowly missing out on first place to Carl Bell of Howgill, who finished the 8 mile course in 50:00. The juniors had more success with Josh Newbold taking first place in the under 12 boy's ahead of Alex Ashby. Ellamae Gibson was first girl ahead of Katie Horn in second. Wharfedale results are as follows:

Seniors

•   2 - Ted Mason - 51:45
•   3 - Nick Charlesworth - 51:59
•   6 - Paul Crabtree - 53:34
•   8 - Mark McGoldrick - 54:35
• 30 - Thod Gibson - 1:01:29
• 37 - Neil Taylor - 1:03:41
• 64 - Cathy Bradley - 1:06:26 (3rd Lady)
• 80 - Jean Powell - 1:13:55
• 82 - Sarah Martin - 1:14:11
• 85 - Lynn Whittaker - 1:14:87

Under 12's

• 1st - Josh Newbold - 12:13
• 2nd - Alex Ashby - 12:38
• 4th - Adam Gibson - 12:56
• 7th - Ellamae Gibson - 13:34 (1st Girl)
• 8th - Katie Horn - 14:15 (2nd Girl)

Under 16's

• 2nd Matthew Horn - 15:28