Athletics news

The answer was Steve Oldfield (Bradford Airedale) and he was almost three minutes behind the invincible Ian who, in clear, crisp conditions, won the event for the seventh consecutive year and in a record time of 43min 35sec.

No surprise there but what did raise eyebrows was that Gavin Bland, who is the current English and British champion, could only finish sixth.

When asked why he had travelled south from Borrowdale to such a low key event he replied, in his typically modest way, "You have to start your season somewhere and I'll be lucky to finish in the first ten!"

Skyrac fellrunners sometimes journey north to Borrowdale but they also support local events and 11 clubmates turned up at Penistone Hill to swell the field to 280 competitors.

In-form Dave Young, now running as a Over-40 veteran, was first home in 31st place in 52min 04sec, followed by 55th Duncan Asquith (55.30), 57th Nigel Kirkbright (55.54), 71st John Forsyth (57.04), 88th Ralph Warman (58.19), 89th Graham Breeze (58.22), 96th Graham Grinstead (59.12), 119th Malcolm Coles (60.52), 153rd Neil Clayton (63.24), 160th Andy Brear (64.09) and 175th Max Wood (65.08).

It may be Skyrac spirit that produced such a good turnout or alternatively the free Soreen malt loaf given to all competitors.

Otley ACs Ray Hawksby finished 70th in 57.02 with Steve Mann 151st in 63.14 and David Fox 181st in 65.21. Horsforth Fellandale had David Britton 52nd in 56.09 and Mark Saville 273rd in 86.20 while Ilkley Harriers had Geoff Howard in 80th in 57.52 and Shirley Wood 213th in 71.04.

Wharfedale Harrier Ted Mason was 14th in 51.22 with club colleague Bob Hamilton 30th in 51.56 and Ross Whittaker 192nd.

The oddly named Yeadon Chicken Skinz were represented by Edward Batty who was 216th in 69.27. Chicken Skinz Jason Hemsley, running in the vest of Pudsey and Bramley, ran a superb race to finish eighth just 200 yards behind the winner with a time of 48.26.

The former Ilkley Harrier is soon to run in New Zealand.

The first lady was former Ilkley Harrier Helen Johnson, now running for Bingley Harriers. She was 39th overall in a time of 54.20.

In the junior race held prior to the main event Skyrac were represented by a couple of families.

Mark and Scott Thwaites from Burley-in-Wharfedale, followed up their performances in the New Year's Day duathlon in Edinburgh by 12 year-old Mark taking first place in the Under-14 boys and third place overall and nine year-old Scott taking second place in the Under-12 boys' and fourth place overall.

In Edinburgh Scott won the Under-12 boys' duathlon and Mark was second in the Under-15 boys.

Sophie Young was 28th overall and third Under-9 girl while brother Jordan was 47th overall.

l If you would like to know more about Skyrac fellrunners then ring Sue or Neil on 0113 2290924.

Horsforth Fellandale

Horsforth Fellandale is currently planning two events for 2,000. The first, a Sports Day, will be held on Sunday, June 18.

The club has received a National Lottery Millennium Fund grant to showcase sports clubs active in the area. A boundary run of Horsforth of approximately ten miles will be the focal event, with junior cross-country and flat races, alongside five-a-side football, bowls, cricket and fun activities such as tug o'war and egg throwing.

The second event will be the third Danefield Relay - this has proved very

popular with local clubs for the last two years with upwards of 50 teams entering. The event will be held on Wednesday, July 5, with a start time

of 7:15pm.

Fellandale members have been busy of late. Last weekend members were out at Haworth to run the seven mile Stanbury Splash. Unusually the going was fairly dry (apart from crossing streams three times), and runners had

wonderful views on a clear sunny day.

Other events runners are preparing for is the 25 mile Three Peaks Race, which is Chaired by Fellandale member Graham Maud and involves many people from the Horsforth area not only as runners, but also as marshals.

The event this year, held on Sunday, April 30, will prove amongst the most popular in its history, as it has been chosen as an English Fell Running Championship event, and the number of entries has been increased to 600.

Horsforth Fellandale meet on Wednesday nights at Horsforth Hall Park Cricket Club at 6.30pm. From April to September the club meets at Surprise View car park on the Chevin. The club welcomes runners of all abilities and has a full calendar of events. The AGM will be on Thursday, February 3, at 8pm at Horsforth Hall Park Cricket Club, and the annual dinner, at La Copella in Horsforth, on Friday, March 3. Anyone interested in joining: call Mark Saville, Chairman on (0113) 258 4680.

Otley AC's handicap

ON Saturday morning 11 members took part in Otley Athletic Club's first monthly handicap of the New Year starting at the Square and Compass, North Rigton.

In dry and crisp conditions over the approximately 10.5km course which takes in part the back road between Beckwithshaw and Leathley, before returning in front of Almscliff Crags to North Rigton, Tony Allen returned victorious in a net time of 43min 48sec.

The resurgent Duncan Burgess, who has recently pulled off some excellent results in high standard cross-country races, finished an excellent second just eight seconds behind Tony in a net time of 36min 26sec. Third was Andrew Robertshaw who is also running well with a net time of 36min 32sec.

Ian Fisher recorded the fastest time of the day with 32 minutes exactly and despite his late arrival due to work commitments, Neil Cayton was second fastest recording 33 minutes exactly.

This weekend sees Otley enter both strong men and ladies' teams in the Northern Cross-Country Championships at South Shields on Saturday.

The men's teams will, however, be depleted with Ian Fisher concentrating his efforts on retaining his Yorkshire Half Marathon title at the York "Brass Monkey" starting from York Racecourse on Sunday morning. Ian's winning time in 1998 of 66.36 is a course record.

Runners of all standards are invited to join in with training on Tuesday and Thursday evenings from Otley RUFC's Cross Green, starting at 7.15pm.

Ilkley Harriers

THE main event of the weekend for Ilkley Harriers was the club's annual party where the efforts of individuals during the year were recognised and everyone had lots of fun in the pleasant surroundings of Ilkley Tennis Club.

Best male runner of the year was awarded to Tim Ashelford for many outstanding runs at different distances and on varying terrains.

Best female runner of the year went to Sally Malir for many consistent performances during the year.

The most improved male runner of the year was well deserved by Andrew Wade for excellent personal bests at 10k, 10 miles and half marathon on the road.

Alison Bennett won the most improved lady finishing strongly with good performances in the second half of the year.

The host marathon award went to Alison Crane for her run in the London Marathon that not only produced an excellent, competitive time but a large amount of money for charity.

Two new awards for the club went to Shirley Wood and Bernie Connor who put in a tremendous amount of effort to ensure the internal promotion of the club and its social activity were second to none.

The support given by Paul Wood was equally recognised, particularly with regard to the Newsletter and new website.

A thank-you also goes out to all the committee members, and any members who have helped at events during the year that have ensured successful organisation and enjoyment for participants.

Racing at the weekend included the Stanbury Splash, aptly named because of the need to cross four streams en route. Malcolm Pickering came home in an excellent 21st position and Nick Pearce 35th. Geoff Howard, Shirley Wood and Jo Foster also put in good performances.

The club meets at Ben Rhydding Sports Club on Tuesday and Thursday nights at 7.00 and new members are welcome. Ring Ken Souyave on 01943 862096 if further information is required.

Laura triumphs in

WY League

The fourth and final West Yorkshire Cross-Country league was held at Leeds City's Middleton Park Woods course and Skyrac's Laura Kirk was once again in excellent form. She has dominated the Under-13 girls' age group all season and this time was no exception, heading local rival Becky Townshend of Leeds City by six seconds.

When all the points were added up, Laura was the clear individual winner of the league and a great asset to Skyrac Under-13 girls' team which also achieved the overall first place.

In the Under-15 girls section Elizabeth Spencer took second place at Middleton Park and thoroughly deserved her overall third position since she missed one of the league meetings through injury.

Wharfedale Harriers

Another weekend of fine weather saw members of Wharfedale Harriers travelling both north and south for their fell racing. The smaller contingent headed south for Penistone Quarry, the bleak hill top starting point for many winter races organised by Dave Woodhead.

This particular variation, the Stanbury Splash, over seven miles, 1200 ft of climb, and three river crossings takes in the Withins above Haworth over all manner of terrain. Steep hill specialist Ted Mason, competing in what was probably the longest race of his career, had a storming run over unfamiliarly fast ground to finish 14th in 49.53. Perhaps paying the penalty for trying to keep Ted in sight early on, Bob Hamilton faded slightly on the last hill, but still ran a strong race to finish 30th in 51.56 out of a highly competitive field of well over 200 runners.

New recruit Ross Whittaker also had a good run to finish in the prizes as 2nd Under-18, a great performance since he was almost certainly the youngest runner in the field.

The larger contingent headed into the Lakes for the Hoad Hill Race at Ulverston, the third event of the Kendal Winter League. In the men's race, won by Billy Procter, Steve Hounslow again led the Harriers home in 11th place in 23.12, followed by Paul Rogan 13th, 23.32; Damien Scholes 15th, 23.37; Andy Holden 16th, 24.07; Dave Fell 21st, 24.55; and Kevin Rogan 32nd, 28.20.

Kate Rogan continued her string of great results this year to win the ladies race in 24.23, succeeding in reversing the places from last week with the more experienced Sue Parkin. Also in the ladies, Lynn Whittaker finished 9th in 35.14. Finally, in the Under-17 boys, Martin Hounslow was third in 23.40 and again got the better of elder brother Sam, who was fourth in 25.50.

Wharfedale Harriers is a family oriented club aiming to promote fell and

cross-country running across all ages and abilities. Training takes place Monday to Thursday evenings from Silsden, Skipton and Ilkley. For more details please contact David Hird on 01535 653826.

What's in a name?

A NEW name has started to appear in local athletics circles and it has raised a few eyebrows.

The lads from Yeadon Chicken Skinz

admit to going under the name they first thought up for their five-a-side soccer team which competed at Aireborough Leisure Centre.

Edward Batty, who ran the Stanbury Splash on Sunday, said: 'We are just a like minded bunch who started out playing five-a-side football and have now branched out into mountain biking, fell running and camping. We just enjoy the outdoor life.'

Among its members is Jason Hemsley, of Otley, who has been running under the banner of Pudsey and Bramley after leaving Ilkley Harriers. He is shortly to run in New Zealand.

Converted for the new archive on 30 June 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.