After years of organising around a dozen fell races a year Allan Greenwood has decided enough is enough and for 2006 he has cut back his commitment to three races per year. However, it is not all doom and gloom because some of the races will now be organised by others such as his partner Linda Crabtree.

One of the races he has dropped is the deceptively tough eight mile Ovenden Race from Ogden Water which is now organised by Calder Valley club member Thirza Hyde.

For 2006 the entry fees are being donated to Skye Mountain Rescue Team, which was involved in the search for Greg Houghton (Calder Valley) who lost his life on the Cuillins on Skye last year.

So, although the event has always attracted a good field, last Saturday almost 200 runners turned up raising over £1,000 to donate to the Rescue Team.

Race winner was England international Lloyd Taggart (Dark Peak) in a record time of 52.20 and for Skyrac Duncan Asquith was 59th in 67.36, Graham Breeze 70th and First V60 in 69.29 and Malcolm Coles was 119th in 77.21.

Skyrac AC is based at Nunroyd Park on the Guiseley/Yeadon boundary and enjoys the facilities of the magnificent ANSA clubhouse. Skyrac can be contacted via www.skyrac.org.uk or 01943 874046.

Otley Athletic Club

Saturday morning saw 15 members of Otley Athletic Club braving chilly conditions for the first race in this year's Ken Dixon Handicap Series, a testing 10k course starting and finishing at the Square and Compass, North Rigton.

First back, fresh from a good showing at the recent Auld Lang Syne Fell Race, was Dave Fox with a net time of 55.58 followed by last year's handicap runner-up Phil Robinson in 56.21, third back and first lady was Carol Armitstead with a net time of 56.30.

Fastest time overall was Andrew Robertshaw with a time of 36.39, followed by Chris Carver (39.36) and a rapidly improving Malcolm Court with 39.49.

On Sunday Otley fielded three teams in the annual Harrogate Ringway relay race - a tough 20 mile course, run over five legs, following the popular Ringway footpath route around Knaresborough, Harrogate and Beckwithshaw.

Otley A Team finished strongly in third place, in an overall time of 2.20, with the B team in 14th and the C team a creditable 12th place out of a total of 27 teams.

Local team Harrogate came in first with a time of 2.14. At the time of writing individual times were unavailable.

Otley AC welcomes runners of all abilities and disciplines. They have several club members training for the London Marathon, so if you were lucky enough to get a place and need a running partner go down to a training night.

They meet for training at Otley Rugby Club on Tuesdays and Thursdays at 7.15 pm. See the website otleyac.co.uk for more details.

Ilkley Harriers

Ilkley Harriers fielded three teams in a friendly relay around the Harrogate Ringway Relay, hosted by Nidd Valley Road Runners.

The Cheetahs were fourth: Catherine Gibbons, Jeff Paget, Jason Hemsley, Stefan Macina, and Keith Wood.

The next Harriers team was 24th: Mary Gibbons, Paul Wood, Pete Shields, Bernie Gibbons, and Bernie Connor.

Ilkley also had 30th team: Jane Coupe, Richard Gray, Vince Gibbons, Andy Greaves, and Amanda Parnaby.

Andy Wiggans ran 39:49, and came in 73rd out of 453 finishers, in the Garstang 10k. Bob Wightman had a good run, finished in 112th place in 42:23

Several Junior Ilkley Harriers took part in the U-11 Bradford School's Sportshall Athletics trials last week. Three children have since been selected to compete for the City of Bradford regional team in Sheffield on February 5.

Josh Crane was selected to do javelin and relays and Lucy Deakin and Daniel Judkowski for their long and triple jumps as well as relays.

So it was a quiet week for racing, after the hectic holiday period. Ilkley Harriers training is now back in full swing. If you're training for the London Marathon, or you've made a New Year's Resolution to get fit, or you're just looking for a friendly bunch of people to run with, come down to your local club.

They run from Ilkley Lawn Tennis and Squash Club every Tuesday at 7pm, with many other training sessions too - more info on www.ilkleyharriers.org.uk

Bradford Millennium Way

THE Bradford Millennium Way Annual International Relay Race will take place on Sunday, June 18.

The Bradford Millennium Way is a circular footpath 45 miles( 75k) long, starting and finishing at Bracken Bank on Shipley Glen.

It was devised to celebrate the Millennium by the Bradford Environmental Trust and follows a pleasant and picturesque course.

The route travels over some of the finest scenery in the North of England through or near the villages of Oxenhope, Haworth, Silsden, Goose Eye and Laycock and over the hills above Airedale and Wharfedale

What is surprising to visitors is that this beautiful, scenic path never leaves the confines of the Bradford Metropolitan District.

In 2002 St Bede's RC organised the BMW Five Stage Road Relay for the first time, following the original route but starting and finishing at Bingley Sports Club in Wagon Lane.

Each year over 200 runners have taken part including overseas entries. In 2004 Avos a team from Antwerp entered and last year there were participants from Holland and Belgium in the race and these overseas runners greatly enjoyed the race, the presentation of the prizes by the Lord Mayor and the social events organised by St Bede's. This year there will be three European teams and two teams coming all the way from New Zealand.

The club is grateful to Pace, Filtonic, Bradford Environmental Trust and Bradford Council for all their help, encouragement and support in 2005.

St Bede's is hoping that there will be entries from Danish clubs in the future.

For further information contact the club website or the club secretary mike.moss@blueyonder.co.uk or colin.colanne@blueyonder.co.uk.