To the delight of all last Sunday Dave and Eileen Woodhead, the organisers of John's Run, were able to announce a contribution of over £2,500 to the John Taylor Foundation for Young Athletes.

A field of 335 had set off from Penistone Hill, Haworth, behind a group of John's friends in a rolling start down to a roadside Scottish piper after which the race began in earnest.

However, after the surprising start the winner was as expected and Ian Holmes (Bingley) in 39.42 was comfortably ahead of Tim Werrett (Mercia) in 40.00.

More surprises then followed at the prizegiving where prize winners selected a cabbage, from a choice of different varieties, to which was pinned a ticket for a rather less healthy drink or foodstuff just to make the day more memorable.

First lady and 74th overall was Pauline Munro (Bingley) in 49.27.

Skyrac used the race as its inaugural event in the 2003 Fell Championship. The good turnout included 98th Bob Pritchard (51.48), 99th Derek Emsley (51.52), 123rd Martin Farrar (53.51), 180th Graham Breeze (57.36), 194th Steve Batley (58.37), 195th Peter Rawnsley (58.39), 224th Max Wood (61.20), 226th Malcolm Coles (61.26), 238th Dave Hill (63.04), 276th Neil Clayton (69.43) and 305th Roger Dawson (73.23).

John's Run was not the only fell race last Sunday and Duncan Asquith and Andy Brear continued their excursions to the Cleveland Winter series for the six miles Castleton Beacon race.

Winner was Carl Stead (Northumberland FR) in 57.21 with Duncan 14th in 64.20 and Andy 17th in 67.23 in a field of 70 runners.

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Grant for Andrew

Horsforth athlete Andrew Staniland had his combined events talents recognised when he received a £100 Support Grant from the Ron Pickering Memorial Fund.

The award was made to the Leeds City athlete in recognition of his performances so far in the octathlon in the under-17 men's age group. In 2002, he was ranked third in the United Kingdom with 4,957 points, a score which places him 26th on the UK All Time ranking lists.

These grants are awarded annually to athletes of 15 years and above in order to help them make the most of their opportunities within the sport.

Andrew has used the grant to put down a security deposit on a pole from the North of England AA Pole Vault Bank to enable him to prepare for this event as part of the decathlon in the junior men's (U-20) age group in 2004.

On the back of this good news, Andrew set two new personal bests at the Wakefield Harriers Indoor Open Meeting at Thornes Park Athletics Centre.

These came with a second place in the under-17 men's 50m (6.6s) and a victory in the 50m hurdles (7.6s). His younger sister, 14 year-old Bethany, also set two new PBs at the same meeting with two third places in the under-17 women's 50m (7.5s) and 50m hurdles (9.5s).

Otley Athletic Club

On Sunday the fourth Sports Direct Cross-Country League race was held at Kippax. Although lower key than the West Yorkshire League, Sunday's course was a particularly testing four-and-a-half miles with lots of sticky mud and a really stamina-sapping climb across a turnip field.

Otley just managed to finish a full team, led home by James Cullen in 24th, Malcolm Court in 35th and Carl Walsh in 46th.

Other counters were: Graham Steed 65th, Colin Best 78th, David Hainsworth 92nd, Trevor Lambert 110th and Antonio Cardinale 117th. Only two ladies turned out for Otley but both gave good account of themselves, Helen Walsh finishing in a very good 12th and Anna Atkinson a useful 35th.

At an altogether more serious level of competition Ian Fisher represented Yorkshire on Saturday in the Inter-Counties Championships at Woolerton Park, Nottingham. His 48th place overall was good enough to make him first counting finisher in a slightly below par Yorkshire team.

The other local event was a fell race held to raise funds for a charity set up in memory of the talented fell racer John Taylor, who died suddenly last year. First Otley finisher was Andrew Robertshaw in 10th place.

West Yorkshire Schools

Jodie Gregorczyk, of Leeds City AC and Menston St Mary's School, continued her excellent season's cross-country form at the West Yorkshire Schools' Championships at Leeds Grammar School.

A strong run from the 12 year-old saw her finish in fourth place in the junior (U-14) girls' race.

This ensured her a place on the West Yorkshire team to contest the English Schools' Championships later in March.

Leeds City clubmate Alex Davy, of Guiseley, could not quite match Jodie's achievement. Nevertheless, he ran well for 17th place in the junior boys' race, just pipping Horsforth's Johnny Brownlee (Bradford GS).

However, there was tremendous Brownlee family success when Alistair won the intermediate (U-16) boys' event - he too will feature at the English Schools' Championships, where he could well start as one of the favourites for a national medal.

Aother Horsforth athlete who is capable of making a big impact at the National Schools is Elizabeth Spencer (Holmfirth Harriers).

She again showed her class over the country for second place in the senior (U-19) girls' race.

At these championships it was good to see Woodhouse Grove School's Jill Harrison (Keighley and Craven AC) back in the thick of the action, finishing in a fine 15th place in the intermediate girls' category.

Sports Hall Athletics

Early February always sees the start of the Norwich Union / UK Athletics Sports Hall Athletics season, a series of championships which begin at county level and culminate in the UK Finals at the National Indoor Arena, Birmingham.

For two local athletes the road to the NIA began at Beckfoot Grammar School, Bingley.

Bethany Staniland (Horsforth) and Fraser Davies (Menston), both members of Leeds City AC, enjoyed tremendous success in their respective Under-16 age groups at the West Yorkshire Championships, setting three new county records between them.

Bethany set two of these records when she won the four laps race (c.300m with eight reversa board turns) in 48.74s, and then took the shot title with a personal best putt of 11.09m. She was also third in the standing long jump with 2.14m. Fraser's new county record was achieved when he won the two laps sprint (c.150m with four reversa board turns) in 21.25s.

He was also victorious in the shot with 11.30m and came third in the standing long jump with 2.49m.

The next stage will be at Thornaby on Tees later this month where they will now both represent West Yorkshire in the North-East Sports Hall Championships.