The Yorkshire Cross-Country Championships were held at Herringthorpe Stadium in Rotherham on Saturday and the men's team from Otley AC put in a magnificent showing.

Ian Fisher finished first for Otley in sixth place with a typically controlled run in a time of 39 minutes 50 seconds. This gives Ian automatic qualification for a Yorkshire vest in the Inter-Counties Championships to be held later in the year.

Jamie Noon was the second Otley finisher in 43rd place overall at 43:26 just one second ahead of Jamil Parapia in 44th. Young whippersnapper Jamil had led Jamie for most of the 9.2km race but was unable to hold off a late challenge by the more experienced athlete.

Matt Cox (65th 45:14) and Julian Mawson (68th, 45:26) were the next finishers for Otley, closely followed by Andrew Robertshaw (74th, 46:14) and Neil Cayton (80th, 46:29).

The Otley veterans John Armitstead (150th, 51:36), Tom Hannah (183rd, 54:58), Howard Jeffrey (195th, 56:54) and Mark Blagg (212th, 61:31) all put in strong runs which helped to make Otley's team performance their best ever at the county championships.

Otley finished seventh team overall an improvement of three places on last year, beating much larger clubs such as Pudsey & Bramley and Keighley & Craven.

The individual men's Yorkshire title was won by Mark Buckingham (38:55) of Holmfirth to go with his West Yorkshire crown and Leeds City took the men's team prize from Bingley Harriers who have held the title for the last eight years.

Otley AC train every Tuesday and Thursday night, running on a variety of routes to suit all standards of runner. Training runs start from Otley RUF. at 7.15. Further details are availabl

Skyrac AC

The ten races for the 2006 Skyrac Fell Handicap Trophy have now been decided and the series starts with the Ilkley Moor race on February 26.

The Championship, which is now in its 18th year, has been known as the Derek Emsley Trophy since the death of the Skyrac runner from skin cancer in 2003.

Derek, who lived in Yeadon, won the Trophy in 2002 even while his final illness was developing but his determination to retain his enthusiasm for running, which even extended to completing the London Marathon in the Spring of 2003 in a sub-three hour time, so inspired his fellow runners at Skyrac that the Trophy was renamed in his memory.

The 2006 races are a balance between local races such as Eldwick Gala and Round Hill, near Timble, and classic long fell races such as the 14 mile Sedbergh Hills and Langdale Horseshoe races.

Every year Graham Breeze, who co-ordinates the Trophy, introduces new races and the four races which are new for 2006 include the ten mile Ravenstones Brow and, as a new departure, the 12 mile Garburn Trail Race which starts from Staveley in Cumbria.

The list also always includes old favourites such as the Half Tour of Pendle and the Anniversary Waltz which this year is a counter in the English Fell Championship series.

In 2005 the Trophy was shared by Graham Breeze and Martin Farrar whilst Rob Weston secured third place at his first attempt. The trophies will be awarded at the Skyrac Presentation Evening on February 10.

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.

Ilkley Harriers

The Cross-Country season is still going strong, with the Sport Direct Cross-Country League's races starting last Sunday. Abbey Runners set a lovely 4.5 mile course at Golden Acre Park, enjoyed by nearly 30 Ilkley Harriers.

In this league the men and ladies all run in the same race and although there were many good Ilkley results the one that caught everyone's attention was Sarah Jarvis's position as first lady home, by a good margin.

Full Ilkley results: 17, Graham Pearce 31.28; 18, Dave Wilby 31.30; 24, Jamie Hutchinson 32.01; 33, Lawrence Basham 33.03; 51, Adrian Hall 34.36; 1st lady Sarah Jarvis 34.51; 59, Neil Chapman 35.27; 65, Geoffrey Howard 35.50; 78, Keith Wood 36.59; 6th lady Kelly Harrison 37.19; 86, Peter Shields 37.49; 7th lady Joyce Marshall 37.52; 100, John Coates 38.57; 11th lady Kay Lucas 39.08; 107, Graham Stead 39.44; 120, Vincent Gibbons 41.05; 18th lady Jemma Basham 42.11; 19th lady Debbie Rosen 42.11; 131, Stewart Taylor 42.20; 20th lady Rachael Gooch 42.30; 21st lady Diane Haggar 42.33; 136, Richard Gray 42.35; 22nd lady Barbara Bullock 42.50; 27th lady Bernadette Gibbons 43.51; Antonio Cardinale 44.27; 39th lady Christine Reilly 46.02; 148, Bob Payne 46.48; 63rd lady Emma Payne 52.07; 66th lady Amanda Parnaby 53.30

This was the first counter in the Ilkley Harriers 2006 Running League too, and the League points are shown below. SuperVet Geoff Howard benefited from a superb run and his age-related handicap to take the early lead in the series.

On Saturday the Yorkshire Cross-Country Championships were held in Rotherham. In the senior men's race Lawrence Basham was 105th in 48:23; and in the senior women's race Pange Srivastava was 59th in 29:30

In the first race of the day the Ilkley U-13 girls had a 9th overall team position with Fiona Jordan 28th in 15.14; Emily Kerr 34th in 15.23; Louisa Clark in 16.31 and Emma Davidson 52nd in 16.59.

In the U-13 boys' race that followed over the same course Michael Hinchcliffe was Ilkley's only competitor in his first race for the club. Despite having very few races under his belt this season he finished 44th in 13.54.

In the U-15 girls race Ilkley had Jenny Dybeck 24th in 17.41; Ruth Kitchen 32nd in 18.17 and Catherine Gibbons 36th in 18.26 out of a field of 68 finishers. This gave them a 7th overall team position

This Saturday the Junior Ilkley Harriers team are staging the Wharfedale and District Primary Schools' Cross-Country Challenge at Nell Bank, with races from 9.30am to 12.30pm (youngest runners first, full programme on www.junior.ilkleyharriers.org.uk).

Ilkley Harriers run from Ilkley Lawn Tennis and Squash Club every Tuesday at 7pm. After the run and supper last Tuesday 60 Ilkley Harriers enjoyed a talk from top lady runner Sarah Rowell on her running experiences, lessons learned, and some thoughts on sports nutrition.

This is one of the events staged by Ilkley Harriers for its members. If you are just looking for a friendly bunch of people to run with, come down to your local club.More information on www.ilkleyharriers.org.uk