Running log

Bradford resident Tesfaye Debele won the Leeds Half-Marathon in 68min 26sec (chip-time).

Debele was almost four minutes clear of Otley’s Matt John. Youngster Dean Jerome (Leeds City) was a good sixth in 76:36.

Pauline Munro finished first lady in 79:41, with Donna Edmondson-Booker (Idle AC) next in 85:52.

Sunday’s race saw 5,318 runners finish – but Ilkley’s Fiona Schneider had a new experience “sitting on a pavement mid-race for 25 minutes attending a collapsed lady until the ambulance arrived.

“The paramedic was great but took about 15 minutes to arrive, so it was fortunate the poorly lady from Leeds was feeling a lot better by then.

“In my head I had abandoned my own running at this 8.5-mile stage (having missed my halfway target time). So having ensured the lady was recovering in expert hands, I set off again.

“Running did not flow easily at first – but then I ended up reeling in nearly every runner on the road!”

* The three-race John Carr 5K Series kicked off with a maximum turn-out on the fast Esholt course, with 421 finishing.

Ilkley’s Tom Adams won in 15:16, a street ahead of Richard Harris (Rotherham) and returning-from-injury Jamil Parapia (Otley, 15:47).

Kevin Ogden (Spen) was a close fifth, with Baildon’s Quentin Lewis getting some speed work in for his fell running in sixth (16:13).

Gerard Mills (Bradford-Airedale) is in the form of his life, recording 16:20, to be just ahead of Skyrac’s Zack Whitehead.

Otley pair Liam Dunne and Mark Hall (first over-50) made the top 15, with the host club’s Andy Bedford (Saltaire Striders) just behind in 16:39.

Leeds City’s Suzie Richards was first lady in 17:58, with Ilkley’s evergreen Sally Morley five seconds behind.

* The following evening, Ilkley Harriers hosted the first of the Harrogate Summer Race League series, with 322 competitors from the 11 clubs.

* The Bradford Park Run at Lister Park each Saturday morning continues to grow, with regularly 450 or so 5K competitors setting off at 9am from the bandstand.

It is now second in size only to the Huddersfield equivalent at Greenhead Park, which regularly attracts over 600 each week.