Earlier this week, we wondered if this race would still be on because the snow and ice has caused havoc on the roads and Ilkley isn't the easiest place to access at the best of times. But, of course this is CROSS COUNTRY and it wouldn't be as such without a bit of mud.This was not a course with just a bit of mud however. Even getting to the start involved a lot of the stuff and climbing over barbed wire fences.
The junior races came first. The 1 mile one had to be changed due to a 'puddle' (see above photo!) so the younger runners went up a steep hill and round the field a couple of times. Kara took part in this race and although she found it very difficult, she did eventually smile! Ellie was completing her first race for VARR, and indeed her first ever cross country race. She did the 2 mile race and looked very strong as she took on the tough terrain and did brilliantly. Well done to both our junior members on not backing out and giving their all today.
The adult race was one lap of a small field, then three laps of that plus a bigger field. They were all warned about the 'puddle' which was in fact 18-24" deep in places! We had an excellent turnout today with 9 men and 9 women wearing their red vests with pride and tackling all the mud and hills with a smile on their face. I heard that one of the fields had a peculiar countryside smell which Hamsa said made her feel sick!
I was incredibly proud, yet again, to be a VARR member today as we all stayed to cheer in our club members and then stayed to see Arthur from parkrun complete his race. It really was great to see how supportive we all are of each other.
Thanks to Debra, Sarah, Julie, Joe, Adele and Vikki for turning out to support.
The men's team came 2nd and the ladies' team came 3rd today. Well done!
Junior 1 mile challenge: Kara King 29th 5:33 (definitely not 1 mile!)
Junior 2 mile challenge: Ellie Dooley 20th 12:39
Men's individual results:
Dave McGuire 20th
Tom Williams 44th
Paul Hedley 57th
Chris Jones 62nd
Russell Gardham 80th
Sam Dooley 85th
Rob Clarkson 97th
Rick Pullan 104th
Paul Sanderson 115th
Team: 549 points - 2nd
Ladies' Results:
Helen Williams 14th
Khara Mills 28th
Ali Boyle 38th
Rhona Cubitt 56th
Sue Foster 80th
Kay Fawcett 86th
Liz Jones 87th
Hamsa Tawfik 88th
Jan Glynn 89th
Team: 136 points - 3rd
Overall after 3 races:
Men's Team - 1837 points - 2nd
Ladies' Team - 485 points - 4th
Individual Results:
Dave McGuire 6th - 266.6 points (1st in age cat)
Tom Williams 12th - 244.4 points (4th in age cat)
Paul Hedley 18th - 212.8 points (7th in age cat)
Russell Gardham 26th - 192 points (6th in age cat)
Rick Pullan 68th - 132.2 points (13th in age cat)
Paul Sanderson 122nd - 83.1 points (34th in age cat)
Michael Jameson 149th - 70.1 points (57th in age cat)
Chris Jones 161st - 63.9 points (19th in age cat)
Sam Dooley 181st - 50.3 points (43rd in age cat)
Rob Clarkson 194th - 43.2 points (71st in age cat)
Rich Culver 211th - 33.1 points (75th in age cat)
Chris Brown 229th - 25.3 points (78th in age cat)
Andy Brown 273rd - 2.4 points (40th in age cat)
Ali Boyle 14th - 199.2 points (7th in age cat)
Helen Williams 25th - 181.5 points (12th in age cat)
Dearbhail Keating 58th - 97.9 points (23rd in age cat)
Rhona Cubitt 82nd - 76.3 points (32nd in age cat)
Vikki King 86th - 71.7 points (12th in age cat)
Khara Mills 89th - 69.7 points (14th in age cat)
Sue Foster 114th - 46.7 points (17th in age cat)
Sarah Willis 123rd - 42.5 points (44th in age cat)
Helen Bailey 134th - 34.3 points (20th in age cat)
Hamsa Tawfik 146th - 24.5 points (51st in age cat)
Jan Glynn 151st - 18.8 points (22nd in age cat)
Kay Fawcett 152nd - 18.2 points (19th in age cat)
Nicky Woodward 162nd - 6.2 points (24th in age cat)
Liz Jones 167th - 3.4 points (20th in age cat)
Surinder Bangerh 170th - 1.8 points (25th in age cat)
Kara King U11 girls - 8th - 19 points
Ellie Dooley U15 girls - 8th - 5 points
Photos from today can be found by clicking here.
