Saturday saw the finale of the Fell Running Championship season with the FRA Relays, over tough terrain in Shropshire.

Ilkley Harriers performed well, finishing 38th in 4h58:57. Mark Priestley led off and was 43rd in 60:51. Andrea Priestley and Nick Pearce had a storming run to bring Ilkley up to 32nd in 1h21:59.

Ian Marshall and Geoff Howard were 39th after running Leg three in 1h41.05; and Mark Iley ran the final

leg in 55.06.

Ilkley Harriers is a friendly club, training from Ilkley Lawn Tennis and Squash Club every Tuesday at 7pm.

With the cold dark nights drawing in, run with friends! Find out more about the club on www.ilkleyharriers.co.uk

Malsis host 300

On a glorious autumn afternoon with the sun streaming across the sports field, over 300 schoolchildren from across the country, descended on Malsis Prep School at Crosshills for the annual cross-country event.

A total of 58 teams, made up from 22 schools in the UK, took part in the spectacular event that once again drew huge crowds from as far away as Perthshire in Scotland. All who either took part in, or attended, the event were treated to a fantastic day of entertainment thanks to the dedication of all those involved.

In the Under-11s competitions, Yarm, who had that day travelled over from Stockton-on-Tees, won the girls' event, and Ardvreck who were attending the competition from Perthshire in Scotland lifted the boys' first prize team trophy.

The Under-13 boys' trophy was also won by Ardvreck, who with a number of individual runners placed in the top three, truly had a fantastic day at this year's competition. Unbelievably Ardvreck - performing a real clean sweep, also won the girls' event.

A number of superb individual performances, in all of the races, delighted the crowds and organisers, and the sheer commitment shown by all of the participants - all of whom were determined to reach the finish line of the gruelling course, ensured that the competition again proved to be an amazing spectacle.

During the prize presentations, which took place in front of a bumper crowd, competition organiser and deputy head teacher, Ben Freeman said: "This year's competition provided some of the highest standards of running that we have ever seen.

"The times for some of the individual winners were absolutely outstanding, so much so, that I am sure that on the sports field today we have some future stars of track and field at a county, or even an international level."

Orienteering Success

Runners from all over the north of England went to Marsden Moor, south of Huddersfield, to compete in a regional orienteering event. Events are arranged in age-group categories and runners from Airienteers - the orienteering club for Leeds and Bradford - were victorious in several races, most of which involved significant climb across complex moorland with few paths or other line features. These were :

M35 (8.7km) - Neil Conway 63.12 mins; W21 (7.6km) - Sarah Haines 76.08 mins; JW5 (6.2km) - Victoria Stevens 68.43 mins; JM4 (4.1km) - George Stevens 39.33 mins; JW2 (1.9km) - Florence Haines 13.01 mins; JM5 (7.6km) - Ben Stevens 74.27 mins.

Junior runners from Airienteers were out in force, and other good results were recorded by Chris Brook, Daniel Holmes, Hector Haines, Joe Mercer, Cerys Jones, and Chloe Haines in their respective races.

Amongst the men, Howard Sawyer - a fell-runner who has recently turned to orienteering - showed his potential by achieving fifth place in the very competitive M40 class. Strength-in-depth was shown in the M50 class with Martyn Gill (6th), Tony Carlyle (6th), Michael Cox (8th) and Ken Patterson (9th). Other excellent results were achieved by the ever-green Tom Crowther (M65), Susan Stevens (W50) and Patricia Villiers (W55), all of whom claimed the runner-up spot in their races.

Over 700 young runners attended the British Schools Score Champion-ships at Gilling Woods, near York.

A Score Event involves runners visiting as many control sites as they can in a set time, with penalties for those who arrive at the finish late.

This demands not just running speed, route selection, and navigational skills but also the ability to estimate the time it will take to visit controls.

Hector Haines of Ilkley Grammar School was third in a field of over 60 runners in the 60 minute at under-17 level, whilst sister Chloe was third in the 45 minute event for under-14 girls. Not to be outdone, Florence Haines of All Saints Primary School was runner-up in the girls under-11 event. A remarkable achievement for just one family.

Details of Airienteers, events, socials, and training programmes can be found on the club's website at www.aire.org.uk.

Otley AC

Last weekend 11 members of Otley AC met at Esholt for the 10th event in the race for the Eric Smith Handicap Trophy 2004.

Colin Best was the first finisher with a net time of 35:37. Just nine seconds adrift was Graham Stead with 35:46. Ian Fisher finished third with predictably the fastest time of the event (26:49).

Other finishers (and their actual running times) were: Paul Clifford (36:05), Malcolm Court (33:01), Jennie McKenzie (40:12), Bob Payne (40:14), Tony Allen (39:04), Antonio Cardinale (39:06), Carol Armitstead (40:26) and Nick Hodgkinson (38:58).

The effect of the results of this event is that Antonio has 93 points in total with Paul Clifford in second place with 90. In joint third position are Graham and Malcolm with 84 points each.

Also last weekend a group of Otley AC members travelled to Amsterdam for the annual marathon, half marathon and 10k. Phil Robinson, Peter McGouran and Ursula McGouran ran the marathon in the very good times of 3h 23:16, 3h 29:31 and 3h 43:53 respectively.

Julian Mawson opted for the half marathon and ran 73:11 for 6th position (and just 4 seconds outside his pb).

For details about Otley AC phone Chris on 01943 468109 or e-mail chris.carver@btopenworld.com or visit www.otleyac.co.uk.