Athletics Round-Up

AT the first Horsforth Sports Day the junior cross-country was organised by Horsforth Harriers, it attracted a field of 24 U-10 runners. The one mile course was held entirely in the park and included a fair amount of hill. It was won by 10 year-old Jonathan Brownlee in a time of 6:05, a good minute in front of nine year-old Bradley Snowden. First girl was nine year-old Megan Dennison in a time of 7:42. Mention must also be made to the two youngest runners - both aged four and running solo: Ed Brownlee (10:03) and Martha Saville (11:52) - runners to watch for the future.

The second cross-country event was for runners aged 11 and 12 - this was won by Alistair Brownlee (running obviously a family tradition!) in 7:15 over a 2km course; first girl was Jill Harrison in 8:44 and Hannah Dennison was the winner of the 11 year-old category in 10:15.

The ten mile Boundary Run started with a lap of the park before heading down to the river. There were a small number of drop-outs due to the heat but quite a lot of the course was through woodland or on higher ground where there was a breeze. Incredibly the first runner, Shane Green (Pudsey & Bramley) completed the course in under an hour (54:09) and was followed a minute later by Martin Hilton of Leeds City. Third man was Tony Hazell of Horsforth Harriers in 57:52. First lady was Angela Srivatava, Pudsey & Bramley, in a time of 73:03.

Badgerstone Relay

The midges were out in force for the Badgerstone Relay held on Ilkley Moor last Wednesday (15th June). Teams of three run the 2.5 mile course, which includes over 500ft of ascent past White Wells right up onto the crags. The winning team were doing the lap in around 17 minutes. Fellandale were able to field three teams - including an over 60's team!

The main focus for the week was the ten mile boundary run staged as part of the Horsforth Sports Day on the Sunday. The turn-out was disappointing for the event, with under 50 runners taking part. Organisers weren't sure whether it was because the route was off-road, too far, or because the day was extremely hot. The route was very fast, and included lots of woodland and ran through little known areas of Horsforth.

Fellandale's next event is the Danefield Relay on Wednesday, July 5 starting at 7.15pm (registration on the main Danefield car park from 6pm). Last year saw nearly 50 teams take part - each team of three to run an approximately three mile course on defined paths and tracks. For more information on Fellandale events please contact: Mark Saville (0113) 258 4680 - or check out the Fellandale web site: www.fellandale.com

Skyrac AC Fellrunners

To complete the 23 miles of the Ennerdale Horseshoe with its 7500 feet of ascent is an achievement and most fellrunners never attempt the challenge. Twenty three miles might not seem far to those who erroneously believe that the race of endurance is the 26.2 miles of a marathon but the effort of lifting one's body almost two and a half times the height of, say, Skiddaw under the laws of physics transforms the event into the equivalent of a 37 mile race.

And this is not the whole story because there is no smooth tarmac around Ennerdale and competitors encounter rock fields, rough fell, scree slides and must often run beneath a June sun without anyone handing out cups of water every mile or so.

Kenny Stuart, who held more fellrunning records than any other individual, came second in the 1989 Houston marathon in 2 hours 11 minutes but he had taken half as long again in 1985 when establishing the record time of 3 hours 20 minutes for the Ennerdale race, a record which 15 years later is still unbeaten.

The race starts at the edge of Ennerdale Water and climbs over Great Borne, Red Pike, Green Gable, Kirk Fell, Pillar ( 2926 feet), Haycock, Iron Crag and Crag thenine mile 3000 feet Fairfield Horseshoe, but only 210 completed the 33rd Ennerdale race which was the latest counter in this year's Championship.

This year's event was also a counter for the British Championship and so the cream of British fellrunning was present. The race was won by Simon Booth (Borrowdale) in 3 hrs 21 mins 24 secs ahead of his two Borrowdale team mates Gavin (3.23.45) and Jonny (3.25.39) Bland. Simon Booth, who won the Three Peaks Race in April, was a member of Skyrac some years ago before returning to live in Keswick and he can be counted amongst the distinguished list of present and past club members who went on to International honours including Gary Devine and Peter Whitehead.

Skyrac include the English Championship races in their Club Championship and

in an extremely competitive Ennerdale field Nigel Kirkbright of Skyrac finished 106th in 4.53.01, Graham Breeze was 134th in 5.09.22, Malcolm Coles was 163rd in 5.32.59 and Neil Clayton was 182nd in 5.48.27 and so all could receive their certificates signed by the legendary fellrunner, Jos Naylor, MBE who won the race for nine consecutive years between 1968 and 1976.

If you are interested in joining Skyrac with its plans to build a superb new clubhouse as a part of ANSA to cater for fell, road track and field athletes then ring Neil Clayton on 0113-229-0924.

Otley's multi-terrain relay

LAST Friday Otley AC organised a multi-terrain relay race up and down the Washburn Valley taking in Blubberhouses, Timble, Farnley, Leathley and paths alongside three reservoirs and the River Washburn. Nine teams entered the five-stage event from Ilkley Harriers, St Bede's AC, Keighley and Craven and Otley AC.

At the end of the first leg of four miles Keighley B held a 16 second led over Otley A who fielded Chris Carver instead of the injured Neil Cayton. Chris was very happy with his 24.17 over undulating terrain. Neil O'Brien (Otley A) was timed at 27.03 to hand over in five position, Tom Hannah (Otley B) recorded 27.35 for sixth but suffered a recurrence of the hamstring niggle which forced him to drop out of the Leeds Half -Marathon recently. Otley D were represented by Peter McGouran, who ran 27.50 to hand over in seventh place. Keighley A fielded their slowest runner on this stage (she finished in nineth position) with the promise that it would be much quicker from now on.

On the second leg John Armitstead captured the lead for Otley A with a terrific 27.04. Keighley B kept second place while Colin best ran 28.27 to move Otley B up three places to third. David Hainsworth ran 31.21 for Otley C and Andrew Sumner managed a creditable 32.13 over the difficult three-and-a-half mile stage. As promised, Keighley A began moving up the field ending this leg in fourth position.

At the end of the third leg Otley A had a lead of 23 seconds over Keighley B thanks to a fine run by Alison Lee. The runner from St Bede's ran the fastest time on this stage moving them up from seventh to third. Carol Armistead ran 28.04 on this leg for Otley B while Jennie McKenzie ran very well for Otley C with a time of 27.30. David Fox, running for Otley D, recorded 25.13 (moving his team up to sixth place) but had to run the next leg too as no replacement could be found for absent and injured runners. Keighley A stalled badly on this leg when their runner got lost, they handed over more than one-and-a-half minutes adrift at the back. On the fourth leg Keighley B stole a 56 second led over Otley A despite a run of 24.43 by Phil Robinson. Tony Allen was disappointed with his 26.52 for Otley B while Steve Mann was pleased to take Otley C ahead of Otley B again. St Bede's maintained third place while Keighley A moved up to eighth. On the fifth and final leg Ian Fisher began the 4.7-mile route almost a minute behind but ran a brilliant leg to bring Otley A home in first place by almost five minutes from Keighley B. Mick Jeffrey was pleased with his 31.54 while Otley C and D were represented by Colin Best and Neil O'Brien respectively who were last minute replacements for Steve Haywood and Nick Hodgkinson and had already run a leg earlier. At the start of this stage Keighley C didn't have a runner available and had to wait over five minutes for somebody to arrive and this probably cost them two places. The final results were: Otley A 2hr 08min 41sec, Keighley B 2-13.24, St Bede's 2-16.56, Ilkley 2-20.55, Keighley A 2-22.19, Otley B 2-22-52, Otley C 2-25.27, Keighley C 2-30.42, Otley D 2-43.16.

Members are reminded that the fourth Harrogate League race takes place in Otley (Wednesday, June 28) and they will need as much help as possible with marshalling, catering, etc. Speak to Chris Carver for details. Otley AC organises and participates in a number of friendly events such as the above Washburn Valley Relay which was enjoyed by all who took part. They train from Otley RUFC and Tuesday and Thursday evenings at 7.15pm and new members will always be made welcome.