The Annual Report has to be finished by mid December so misses out on all the Christmas goodies like Chevin Chase (Boxing Day) and Auld Lang Syne (New Year’s Eve), always popular local races.
The Chevin Chase, not technically a ‘Fell’ race but mostly off-road taking in a 7 mile circuit from Guiseley up and around Otley Chevin , with plenty of ascent and often muddy, rough and wet. Attracting over 1500 runners I think the latest race set off in 2 waves so I am not sure how that affected the results.
Bingley had 28 runners out. Alex Flaherty was our first finisher in 14th place just 4 mins behind winner Dom Coy (U/A, 38.29), followed in by Colin Walker (26th and 2ndM50), James Hargreaves (43rd) and Josh Spencer (69th). Next our ladies started to arrive – with Yasmin Small, Sarah Flaherty, Emma Clayton, Ruth Thackray, Sarah Dewhirst and Lesley Watson all in the top 30 ladies (of 577, winner Alice Leake, Leeds City AC, 47.16 ) with Sarah F (F45) and Ruth (F50) topping their age categories. If there was a team prize to be had Bingley ladies would have taken it! Well done all.
POS BIB GENDER NAME CAT CAT POS CHIP TIME
14 1355 Male Alex Flaherty Open 11/244 00:42:49
26 1813 Male Colin Walker Vet 50 2/145 00:44:40
43 2264 Male James Hargreaves Open 25/244 00:46:15
69 1939 Male Josh Spencer Open 34/244 00:47:33
122 2678 Female Yasmin Small Open 6/158 00:50:03
148 1572 Female Sarah Flaherty Vet 45 1/91 00:50:55
170 1502 Female Emma Clayton Open 8/158 00:51:37
210 3010 Female Ruth Thackray Vet 50 1/63 00:52:53
218 1430 Male Mathew Bloomfield Vet 40 37/156 00:52:58
219 2564 Female Sarah Dewhirst Open 10/158 00:53:01
242 1139 Male Scott Prince Vet 35 33/118 00:53:40
280 2135 Male Simon Blake Vet 40 43/156 00:54:33
290 1842 Female Lesley Watson Vet 50 4/63 00:55:10
304 2899 Male Oliver Cheyne Vet 40 44/156 00:55:23
433 3027 Male Andrew Coulton Vet 45 60/141 00:58:18
477 1669 Male Steven Moran Vet 35 61/118 00:59:16
519 2902 Male Ambrose Griffiths Vet 40 67/156 00:59:50
590 1759 Male Dave Stephenson Vet 60+ 21/85 01:01:49
717 1229 Male John Flaherty Vet 45 94/141 01:03:48
834 1555 Female Joanne Henry Vet 45 30/91 01:06:40
844 2737 Male David Pullen Vet 45 99/141 01:06:42
907 1142 Female Charlotte Ing Open 68/158 01:08:03
953 1940 Male Paul Spencer Vet 55 51/78 01:08:43
1004 2498 Female Rachel Blake Vet 40 56/119 01:10:15
1124 34 Female Sarah Jones Vet 40 69/119 01:13:11
1284 2187 Female Annmarie Roper Vet 50 41/63 01:17:57
1352 2196 Female Cheryl Jepson Vet 35 51/58 01:20:19
1425 2314 Female Lucy Hall Vet 40 104/119 01:23:28

And to see the year out there is the Auld Lang Syne (BM 10.8km 300m), the traditional Penistone Hill race, definitely a fell race. 7 Bingley Harriers made the start line. Ian Holmes led them home in 7th place overall and 1st M50. Ruth Thackray was 70th overall and 1st F50 despite running as a giant ‘beer bottle’, and Andrew Smallwood, followed Ruth in, and took 1st M60 in Harry Potter style. The race winners were John Battrick of Keswick in 42.05, and Anna Watkinson-Powell of Dark Peak in 52.09.
7 3 Ian Holmes MV50 46:24 1st MV50
42 344 Robert Williams MV40 55:20
55 309 Paul Tiffany MV40 57:06
64 122 Will Duggan MV50 58:31
70 4 Ruth Thackray LV50 59:46 1st LV50
71 285 Andrew Smallwood MV60 59:54 1st MV60
114 108 Andrew Coulton MV40 1:05:19

Meanwhile Paul & Caren Crabtree joined 300 runners for the New Years Eve Winter Tolkein Trail (11.1km, 528ft) near Clitheroe, with Paul 5th overall and 1M50 in 47.38 and Caren 135th overall in 72.24 – a good top half finish. Great to see Caren back on the move again after a bout of sciatica.
As a great start to 2023 Victoria Wilkinson was 14th (of 146 runners) and 1st Woman in 58.04 in the 9 Standards Fell Race (BM, 12.9km, 549m) with John Parkin coming in 56th in 69.26, and Emma Moran (Clayton) and Steve Moran ran Giant’s Tooth (BS, 4.8km, 120m) with Emma 11th overall and 1st Woman in 21.08 and Steve 33 in 24.33.
In mid January the Soreen Stanbury Splash (BM, 6.7m 1220’) marked the start of the Bingley Fell Championship. A bright sunny day but inevitably still some Pennine moorland bogs underfoot. Bingley (and a couple closely associated) results :
11 Robin Lawrence Bingley Harriers MV50 55:17 145
48 Jenni Boocock Bingley Harriers Lady 1:02:48 88
50 Ian Ferguson Bingley Harriers MV60 1:03:05 204
56 Will Duggan Bingley Harriers MV50 1:04:06 80
68 Andrew Smallwood Bingley Harriers MV60 1:05:49 155
69 Greg Trusselle Bingley Harriers MV40 1:05:54 153
105 Rob Porteous Bingley Harriers MV40 1:10:31 7
164 Becky Howell Unattached LV50 1:25:17 45
177 Bruce Duncan Bingley Harriers MV70 1:28:04 48 1st MV70
190 Lucy Hall Bingley Harriers LV40 1:35:33 99
198 Ceri Griffiths Unattached LV40 1:38:17 28
199 Andrew Coulton Bingley Harriers MV40 1:38:19 29

See the Gallery for some Stanbury Splash pictures – just to prove it was sunny. https://bingleyharriers.teamapp.com/clubs/567035/photos/1728280?_detail=v1
Well done Lucy and Ceri trying out their first fell race and to Bruce for 1st M70. On the family front the day also saw great first fell runs for Arthur Hall (BU9) and Elsie Henry (1st U9 Girl), and a strong run from Charlie Porteous (BU13).
Over the same weekend, while the weather was still wet & snowy many people were tracking dots moving along the Pennine way as the Spine Ultra races set off from Edale. Two of the dots were Sally Parkin and Michelle Garbutt who were dipping their toes in with a Spine Sprint – a mere 42 miles to Hebden Bridge. Hard conditions, including rain and snow, conspired against them, but they still managed 32 miles ending high on the moors at the motorway crossing. Kate Farley was heading for Hawes, 108 miles. With 50 miles in the bag, a migraine kicked in on the second morning, leaving Kate struggling to see and stay upright – not a good combination with over 50 still to go so Kate made the hard decision to retire also. Despite regrets at not finishing, Kate absolutely loved the experience and has tucked it away to help with the next attempt.
The Hebden 22 (22 miles) on Sat 28 Jan clashed with the Northern XC Champs, but was the event of choice for those wanting the distance challenge or preparation for later long outings. The winners finished in 2.49 (M) and 2.54 (W, 3rd overall) and Bingley runners and supporters :
41 190 Jenni Boocock Runner – 22 Miles 03:41:05
42 347 Dave Kirkham Runner – 22 Miles 03:41:08
93 306 Joanne Henry Runner – 22 Miles 04:24:21
94 429 Dave Stephenson Runner – 22 Miles 04:24:27
100 314 Anne-Marie Hindle Runner – 22 Miles 04:30:28
101 315 Millie Hindle Runner – 22 Miles 04:30:33
131 183 Jason Beckett Runner – 22 Miles 04:56:55

Early February saw a few hardy souls heading for the Wadsworth Trog (BL, 31km, 1100m) – the ‘Beast’ of tussock and bog fame. A fair enough day but the tussocks and bogs were still there. Tom Adams of Ilkley led the field round in 2.29. The Bingley (and friends) results were :
47th 84 J Robert Williams M40 03:23:50
50th 124 Ian Ferguson M60 03:25:34
57th= 45 John Parkin M40 03:31:08
57th= 102 Andy Gibbons M40 03:31:08
99th 91 Dave Stephenson M60 03:58:14

You may have run other fell / off-road races. Let me know if you want them included.
What’s coming up next?
A few, fit for the fray, are heading to run the first English Fell Champs race at Long Mynd this weekend (Sat 11 Feb)
The next Bingley Fell Champs Race is coming up at Midgley Moor (BS) on Sun 19th Feb with a recce planned for Thu 16th. Pre-entry is available – get yourself in.
The BFC race after that is Ilkley Moor (AS, Sun 5th Mar) – a toughy but a goody. Also the Yorkshire Senior and U23 Champs race. Pre-entry open with race limit of 400 – get your entry in now.
The rest of the Bingley Fell Champs dates and other key race and team dates for your fell and off-road calendar are listed on Bingley Harriers website (Team App) under Disciplines : https://bingleyharriers.teamapp.com/clubs/567035/teams/573301?detail=v1
If you want to see who did what on the fells in 2022 – check out the Junior, Ladies and Mens Fell Reports in the Annual Report tucked in under What are we about / Documents on our website (Team App) :
https://bingleyharriers.teamapp.com/clubs/567035/documents?list=v1
If you have any queries about fell running for yourself or Junior activity, the Championship series (club or national), or just want to try a venture onto the fells, contact your Fell Team Managers Becky Weight (beckyweight@btinternet.com) or Andy Jebb (andrew@diversedisplays.co.uk ) , andrewjebb2@gmail.com or speak to your fellow club members already running on the fells.
It’s the only place to be 😉
Becky Weight, Ladies Fell Team Manager, Coach in Running Fitness, Bingley Harriers & AC, Feb 23.