SOME of Yorkshire’s finest fell runners were in Kettlewell to compete in the joint Yorkshire Fell Championship and the last Fell Runners Association Championship race of the season.

Hosted by local Fell Running Club, Wharfedale Harriers, the race is a four-mile charge up and down Great Whernside.

Being a joint Yorkshire and FRA championship race, both the ladies and men’s races were fiercely contested by top-ranked runners for places and potential titles.

There were 86 starters in the ladies race and Ribble Valley Harriers’ Katie Walshaw soon led the pack up the first incline, from Black Coombe’s Lizzie Brown.

These leading ladies set a punishing pace leaving the rest of the field in their wake.

Walshaw maintained her lead to win the race (36.19).

However, club mate Nichola Jackson improved her position during the race and chased Walshaw to the finish line to come a very close 2nd (36.21) while Black Coombe’s Lizzie Brown finished 3rd (36.33).

Qualification for the Yorkshire title is either by birth right or by permanent residence for the previous nine months so winner Walshaw was named county champion.

The second and third Yorkshire ladies were Todmorden Harriers’ Annie Roberts (37.43) and Helm Hill’s Sharon Taylor (39.10).

The men’s race had 244 eager starters who immediately split into three arms of runners as they tackled the initial climb.

However, the line taken by Rossendale Harriers’ Sam Tosh was clearly a good choice as when the long train of runners came back together he was already leading the pack, being hotly pursued by Mercia’s Simon Bailey, Clayton-le-Moors Chris Holdsworth and Ilkley Harriers Tom Adams.

Tosh maintained his lead throughout the challenging race and at the point of the final steep descent he had a clear lead to win (29.25) from Bailey (29.53) and Bowland Fell Runners’ Chris Arthur (29.58).

The hotly-contested men’s Yorkshire Fell Running title went to fourth-placed Ilkley Harriers’ Tom Adams (30.02).

The second and third Yorkshire men were Ilkley Harriers’ Jack Wood (30.18) and Pudsey and Bramley’s Joe Baxter (30.47).