Running Log

Bingley Harriers’ ladies were crowned champions in the 23rd British Fell Relay Championships hosted and organised by their own club at Kettlewell in North Yorkshire.

The team of Ruth Whitehead, Victoria Wilkinson, Emma Clayton, Sharon Taylor, Aly Raw and Mary Wilkinson took the title after finishing 55th overall with a time of 4hr 18min 12sec.

They were outside the top ten after the first leg but a strategy of having a well-balanced team proved successful, with Mary Wilkinson coming from almost eight minutes down on the final leg to power to victory.

It was a great reward for the hard work put in by the Harriers in staging the event, which attracted 182 teams from all over the United Kingdom.

Each team comprised six runners competing over four legs in glorious weather, with the sun shining throughout the day.

A huge number of helpers from the Harriers and other athletics clubs in the area were assisted by the Wharfedale Cave and Mountain Rescue Team.

Despite numerous club members helping to stage the event, Bingley still found the resources to put out four teams across the various championships.

A below-strength men’s senior team of Tim Midgley, Ian Holmes, Andrew Peace, Andrew Jebb, Andy Brown and Lee Athersmith ran well to finish ninth against strong opposition in 3:44:10.

The B team – Stephen Fry, Steven Carney, James Senior, Robin Lawrence, Ged Callan and Jamie Robinson – also performed creditably to come home 38th overall in 4:07:54.

And the men’s V40 veterans – Marc Teasey, Dave Stephenson, John Egan, Andy Nicoll, Martin Peace and Richard Scott – let no-one down in 68th (4:24:23).