HARRIER Nathan Edmondson stormed to the finish to win the Chevin Fell race this week.

This was the 44th staging of this popular fell race, of just under three miles in distance with 700ft of climbing.

It involves a sharp ascent and an equally sharp descent. Edmondson finished in 17:15, just eleven seconds off the course record. Lots more impressive results from the 12 Ilkley Harriers who took part; Emily Gibbins led the Ilkley ladies home in a time of 21:20 and was the third lady overall to finish. Steven Gott was the first MV40 to finish, Alison Weston the first FV50 to finish and Jeff Green the first MV50 to finish.

Another win for Ilkley Harriers at the Ilkley Trail race held on bank holiday Friday. Tom Adams finished in an impressive first place in a time of 39:33. A nail-biting finish as clubmate Jack Cummings finished just two seconds behind Tom.

Matt Cox, Jon Dennis and Dan McKeown all finished with top ten placings, with Matt Cox the first MV45 to finish and Dan McKeown the first MV40 to finish. Ilkley Men also claimed the team prize. Brit Tate led the Ilkley ladies home in 55:13. The other notable performance was by Tracey Watson who took first place in her age category.

A busy weekend of racing continued with 21 Harriers taking part in the Wharfedale Trail half marathon. This scenic half marathon starts and finishes in Grassington and includes an ascent of the infamous Mastilles Lane.

Ilkley Harrier Jeff Green finished in an impressive third place in 1:38:04 and was the first MV50 to finish. Sally Malir was the first Ilkley lady to finish in a great time of 2:09:09, with Sally taking the third FV55 category placing.

Adela Reperecki was the second LV60 to finish.

On the fells Rachel Carter took part in the Killington Sport’s Day fell run, another race in the BOFRA (British Open Fell Run Association) series. Rachel was the third lady to finish in this 1.5-mile race with 400 ft of ascent.

Also on the fells, Alison Weston took part in the Pen-y-Ghent fell race. This 6.5-mile race with 1850 ft of climbing starts and finishes at the playing field in Horton in Ribblesdale. Alison was second to finish in her age category, finishing in a great time of 1:12:23.

The busy race scene on the fells continued with Iain Gibbins taking part in the short but challenging Kettlewell fell race. Gibbins had a great run, finishing in 15th place overall in a time of 14:19 and taking first prize in his age category.

Junior Harrier Sam Bentham was first in the under 17 race, with Ilkley Harrier Archie Budding coming in third place at this race.

The Hayes family, all members of Ilkley Harriers, took part in the short score option of the OMM ‘Lite’ mountain marathon in Grasmere in Cumbria. This two-day event involves collecting as many points as possible in five hours on Saturday and in four hours on Sunday on a set course involving both high fells as well as more lower lying options.

Great results for the Hayes family, with father and son, John and Daniel coming in 13th place overall and mother and daughter, Sarah and Lucy coming in 70th place out of the 117 teams that took part.

There was another good turnout of Ilkley Harriers at the bank holiday timed 5km parkruns. Adam Gerrish was eighth finisher at the Doddington Hall parkrun in a time of 18:51 and Harrier James Lee was the 13th finisher at the Chevin Forest parkrun in 21:37.

So, another successful weekend for the Harriers.