Gathering Winter Fools Relay, Solstice Strider, Chevin Chase and Auld Lang Syne
Gathering Winter Fools Relay – Sun 9 Dec 2023
Your share of 32 miles running in driving rain, through knee deep puddles, trying to float over bogs, or down a stream bed – what more could you want to get Dec off to a racing start. 48 Harriers thought it fitted the bill and made up 6 teams of 8 to run the 4 legs in pairs.
Team Managers Nicola Jones and Jo Henry sorted and reshuffled 3 Ladies teams, and Dave Stephenson and Andy Jebb 3 Mens teams. Well done – top performance.

Nicola penned some words about the joys of organising teams and the fun of joining in :
We were delighted to enter 3 Ladies teams for the GWF Relay almost immediately after the entries were open. Through our “Bingley Ladies” Facebook messenger group, whatsapps, the club facebook page and targeted emails, we got more than the 24 ladies needed with ease.
Having 3 teams meant there was a team to suit everyone – those wanting to be highly competitive to those wanting just a lovely day out with friends representing the club in an awesome event. Our Bingley Belles, Bingley Elves and Bingley Fairies were all incredible.
Even with 5 needing to drop out, we were able to find willing and brilliant substitutes so we still had 3 fantastic teams – the last minute reserve [Nicola!] was never used. And a huge thank you to those who joined in with support and recces.
On the day, we had a great selection of fancy dresses despite the incredibly wet conditions. With the party-like atmosphere at the start heading into torrential rain and wind, the changeovers at the Busfeild arms were welcomed. L2 was a little drier with some fantastic runs from everyone. We also had some great partnerships in L3 who handed on to our final L4 runners.
Bingley Fairies were the only Ladies team to finish before all the mass starts and were resounding winners. A big well done to them, but an even bigger one to any relay ‘first timers’, our awesome ‘fancy dressers’, and everyone who made up a team; you should, rightly, be super proud of being in a Bingley team.
Thanks Nicola.
Kghly-Kldwck Kldwck-Emrtn EMrtn-Bngly Bngly-Kghly Overall
L1 9 miles Min L2 9.5 miles Min L3 6 miles Min L4 7 miles Min HM Position
A Ian Holmes 65 Andy Gibbons 76 Martin Peace 42 Andy Brown 59 04:02 2nd
Andy Jebb Mark Leigh Paul Crabtree Tom Gomersal
Fairies Jo Buckley 73 Donna Edmondson 83 Sarah Pickering 47 Shona Stone 73 04:36 8th
Susannah Reid Ruth Thackray Sue Cordingley Abby Tighheal
B Robbie Williams 90 Andy Smallwood 88 Richard Thackray 45 Dave Gillian 70 04:52 10th
Paul Spencer Ian Ferguson Greg Trusselle Dave Grooby
C Simon Butterfield 88 Bill Belcher 106 Bruce Duncan 59 Gareth Harland 70 05:22 18th
Steve Moran Emyr Rees Harry Atkinson Steve Fry
Elves Caren Crabtree 91 Kate Farley 102 Jo Henry 54 Meryl Levington 93 05:39 20th
Emma Moran Trish Emery Alice Butler Alison Marks
Belles Rebecca Whitford 98 Cheryl Jepson 129 Lucy Hall 64 Sally Parkin 104 06:36 26th
Carmel Gomersal Chloe Weatherhead Suzy Noon Vanora McCullagh

The GWF Relay hasn’t run since 2019 due to Covid and getting a new organising team in place – so for many recent members it was a new team event. It was great to see so many tackling something new – Susannah, Donna, Sarah P, Abby, Andy S, Dave Gi, Dave Gr, Simon B, Steve M, Gareth, Emma, Trish, Alice, Rebecca W, Carmel, Cheryl, Chloe, Lucy, Suzy, Vanora. Well done all and thankyou for getting involved with a team event representing Bingley Harriers. I hope you enjoyed it.
Photos by Nicola Jones and Woodentops; lots more by Woodentops.

Winter Solstice Strider 22 Dec 2023. Trail, 5km and 10km, St Ives, Harden
This event is in it’s second year. It’s a night time, fun social event at St. Ives, Harden in aid of Sue Ryder Manorlands Hospice, with 5km run or walk, and two lap 10 km run options. The 5km is open to age 6 and above.
Great to see lots of Bingley Harriers and families spread through the 214 10km and the 271 5km runners, including Thackray, Mcallister, Henry, Bloomfield, Cooper, Hall, Butterfield, Jeeps, Worrallo, Hargreaves, and Temples. Well done all, and well done in the 10km to James Hargreaves (2nd overall), Sophie Thackray (1F), Dad Rob Thackray (1M45), Nicola Jones (1F40), and in the 5km to Tom Hooper (1st overall), Elliot Mcallister (11th and 1MJUN) and Bella Mcallister (2FJUN). It looks like you have all been eating your carrots or Santa brought some nice bright head torches, or both.
Pos Bib Name Cat Time Cat Pos
10 km
2 217 James Hargreaves MSEN 43:10 2M
9 374 Sophie Thackray FSEN 48:06 1F
10 429 Rob Thackray M45 48:08 1M45
20 267 Nicola Jones F40 51:36 1F40
40 364 Benjamin Stevens M40 58:30
42 410 Adam Worrallo M45 58:51
45 288 Kevin Mcallister M40 59:44
108 391 Chloe Weatherhead F40 1:10:45
111 264 Cheryl Jepson F35 1:11:20
5km
1 757 Tom Hooper M35 20:14 1M35
11 676 Elliot Mcallister MJUN 28:24 1MJUN
42 674 Bella Mcallister FJUN 34:46 2FJUN
73 627 Joanne Henry F45 39:01
74 626 Elsie Henry FJUN 39:02
75 526 Joshua Bloomfield MJUN 39:08
77 527 Mathew Bloomfield M40 39:11
88 649 Rosemary Jeeps F55 39:46
99 521 Bill Belcher M60 40:53
121 549 Tom Cooper M35 42:02
122 547 Liberty Cooper FJUN 42:03
149 610 Arthur Hall MJUN 44:29
151 613 Lucy Hall F45 44:31
165 155 Rubie Coulton FSEN 45:14
219 535 Harry Butterfield MJUN 55:22
221 536 Simon Butterfield M40 55:22

Chevin Chase, 26 Dec 2023 (Trail,7m, Guiseley up onto Chevin Chase and back down).
A spectacular Bingley turnout of 45 runners for this popular Boxing Day event with a fancy dress option. A ‘4 wave’ start helped the 1507 runners sort themselves out, with faster runners off first. And sunshine, the first in weeks, but the puddles were still there. The Bingley turnout didn’t end there, with lots supporting, including a Junior Endurance crowd who headed to Surprise View to cheer on their parents and all the Bingley runners.
The race was won by Joe Hudson (Open) of K&C in 37.10 and Lucy Williamson (Open) of Mynnydd Du MR, in 46.14. Bingley’s first finisher was Alex Flaherty, 33rd overall, followed in by Theo Clay, James Hargreaves, Alistair Trusselle, and James Askew – all in the top 50. Rebecca Flaherty came next, 62nd and 3rd Lady, less than a minute off the top spot, followed closely by Yasmine Small (4F), Emily Field (5F), Emma Clayton (Moran) (6F & 1F35) and Sarah Flaherty (9F & 1F45) out of 580 Ladies. If there was a team competition it feels like Bingley were in a good place for both Mens and Ladies prizes 😉.
In the Age Categories Emma was 1 F35, Sarah 1 F45, Jo Buckley 2 F45 and Ruth Thackray 1 F50. John Convery, was 80th overall and 2M60+ only 3 secs and one place behind the 1M60+! I wonder if John knew? Colin Walker was 36 overall and 1st M50
Alex Flaherty O 44:15
Theo Clay O 45:32
James Hargreaves O 45:35
Alistair Trusselle O 45:41
James Askew O 45:59
Rebecca Flaherty O 46:58
Yasmin Small O 47:19
Emily Field O 48:07
John Convery V60+ 48:11
Emma Clayton V35 48:17
Graham Askew V50 48:53
Reuben Mantle O 49:12
Sarah Flaherty V45 50:13
Mathew Bloomfield V40 50:50
Nick Chapman V40 51:08
Paul Crabtree V55 51:15
Alex Small V35 51:06
Sophie Thackray O 51:33
Jo Buckley V45 52:04
Scott Prince V35 52:33
Ruth Thackray V50 52:41
Gordon Weight O 52:53
Tom Cooper V35 53:08
Amicia Lee O 55:26
Josh Spencer O 55:37
Greg Trusselle V45 55:28
Steven Moran V35 56:00
David Grooby V50 56:50
Stephen Fry V60+ 57:06
Lesley Watson V50 57:43
Ambrose Griffiths V40 58:58
Kevin Mcallister V40 59:41
Paul Spencer V55 1:01:14
Joanne Henry V45 1:03:49
Dave Stephenson V60+ 1:04:23
Benjamin Stevens V40 1:05:11
Caren Crabtree V45 1:06:06
Charlotte Ing O 1:06:43
Ceri Griffiths V45 1:13:03
Andrew Coulton V50 1:13:05
Lucy Hall V45 1:14:07
Chloe Weatherhead V40 1:16:07
Cheryl Jepson V35 1:16:15
Vanora Mccullagh V50 1:17:12
Rebecca Holmes V35 1:28:25
Photos on Team App Gallery https://bingleyharriers.teamapp.com/photos/1850480?_detail=v1
More photos, including the infamous ‘water splash’ by Dave & Eileen Woodhead (Woodentops).

Auld Lang Syne BM, 10.8km, 300m Sat 31 Dec 2023.
17 Bingley Harriers joined in the Auld Lang Syne fell race on New Year’s Eve – again with a fancy dress option. We had Cave, Super and Tiger Women and a Summer Outing couple along with a 1 M50 (Ian Holmes) and 1 W50 (Ruth Thackray / Cave Woman), and a trainee bagpipe player (Sophie Thackray), and some even wore blue & white stripes Bingley’ results were :
9 17 Ian Holmes MV50 47:42 1st MV50
43 330 Martin Peace MV50 55:53
44 405 Paul Tiffany MV50 56:28
53 95 Jo Buckley LV40 57:39
57 400 Sophie Thackray Lady 57:51
78 25 Ruth Thackray LV50 1:00:21 1st LV50
87 244 Nicola Jones LV40 1:01:55
90 333 Rob Porteous MV40 1:02:19
91 406 Greg Trusselle MV40 1:02:23
102 24 Andrew Smallwood MV60 1:03:18
106 193 David Grooby MV50 1:03:32
212 214 Joanne Henry LV40 1:15:54
214 172 Alice Fulton Lady 1:16:06 London Fields Triathlon Club
273 191 Ceri Griffiths LV40 1:26:25
274 130 Andrew Coulton MV50 1:26:26
285 379 Jodie Smith LV40 1:29:14
290 173 Sue Fulton LV60 1:31:29
291 387 Shona Stone LV50 1:31:31

And to top off the year two of our runners made the news – Cave Woman Ruth Thackray was pictured in the Yorkshire Post while Super Woman Nicola Jones made it into the Telegraph. You just can’t keep a good Bingley Harrier down 😉.