Club Fell Championship 2025 – your best 5 (two distances) from 10 races :
Two events done – Edale Skyline AL in late March a long hard Derbyshire Dark Peak race for the first in the Series, but it was an English Fell Championship (EFC, a key target for a number of Bingley fell runners) race also so there was interest as it was the easier of the two Longs in the EFC series. In the event life and injury took over and only 3 Harriers made the start line and only two navigated the correct route to the finish. Being an orienteer (😉) doesn’t guarantee the right decision, on Kinder, in the mist and clag, in a tough fell race. A large group went wrong and got timed out. Well done Amicia Lee and Dave Stephenson for getting there, getting round, and scoring the first points in the Championship. A good start but don’t worry, there are plenty of races left to catch them – your best 5 of 10 races – so book the dates in. Details of the Championship races and the Latest Standings are on Team App : https://bingleyharriers.teamapp.com/clubs/567035/custom_pages/8602-fell-championships?detail=v1
The second event in the Club Fell Champs was at the opposite end of the scale – Bunny Runs 1, 2 & 3 CS, a short, local, entry level series on Penistone Hill near Haworth on Tuesdays in April with mountains of chocolate and Easter Eggs for prizes. Your best time from the three races so plenty of scoring opportunities. Bright sunny evenings, dry underfoot and around 200 runners in each race, made for fast exciting races.
24 Seniors ran with 11 doing all three. Best times ranged from 18 to 32 minutes with everyone getting a good start to their Fell Champs score – see the Latest Standings on Team App.
The Bunny Runs are very short at 2.7miles so Juniors from U15 are allowed to run, getting to try a ‘Senior’ event, compete against older runners, and get some chocolate. 9 Juniors competed; they are not eligible for the senior Fell Championship as they are not allowed to do the longer fell races but I hope they will be tusselling for the Junior Fell Championship series – details under Disciplines on team App : https://bingleyharriers.teamapp.com/clubs/567035/teams/576614?detail=v1
Below are the ‘best times’ from the three Bunny Runs; best winning times this year were M 15:18 and W 18:30. I have included our Junior runners too for interest. It’s great to see our Juniors giving the Seniors a run for their money, and who could be challenging for the top spot in the next year or so 😊
Jake Norris BU17 16:03 Paul Spencer M50 22:28
Robert Carter BU15 17:32 Amicia Lee WSEN 22:33
Charlie Porteous BU15 17:57 Paul Crabtree M50 22:42
Tyler Griffiths BU15 18:14 Simon Butterfield M40 22:46
Tom Cooper MSEN 18:51 Isabelle Chapman GU15 22:46
Nick Chapman M40 19:05 Helder Goncalves M40 23:14
Sarah Pickering WSEN 19:23 Richard Bass M50 23:14
Paul Tiffany M50 19:39 Jenni Boocock WSEN 23:23
Olivia Francis WSEN 20:11 Sarah Jones W40 25:07
Jo Buckley W40 20:29 Caroline Francis W50 25:09
Sophie Edwards GU15 20:45 Jason Beckett M50 25:32
Andrew Coulton M50 20:48 Megan Griffiths GU17 26:01
Jude Bass BU15 21:42 Caren Crabtree W50 26:49
Ambrose Griffiths M40 21:45 Cheryl Jepson WSEN 26:59
Ailsa Coulton GU15 22:13 Sue Fulton W60 29:57
David Grooby M50 22:13 Remi Spencer WSEN 32:39
Laura Firth WSEN 22:22

And some of the other Bingley highlights from the Bunny Runs :
• Charlie Porteous 1st BU15 in BR1
• Jake Norris 1st BU17 and 4th overall in BR2
• Bingley won the Ladies Team at BR2 : Sarah Pickering, Olivia Francis, Sophie Edwards
• Robert Carter 1st BU15 in BR3
• Sophie Edwards 1st GU15 in BR3
• Tyler Griffiths 2nd BU15 in BR1, 2, & 3
Series (all three races) prizes (more chocolate !) were handed out to:
• Tyler Griffiths 1st BU15
• Nick Chapman and Ambrose Griffiths – 2nd and 4th M40
• Paul Tiffany 1st M50
• Olivia Francis, Sophie Edwards, Ailsa Coulton and Isabelle Chapman – 2nd, 3rd, 7th and 8th Lady
• Caroline Francis 4th W40
• Sophie Edwards, Ailsa Coulton and Isabelle Chapman – 1st,2nd and 3rd GU15
• Sue Fulton 2nd most improved time knocking over 3 mins off her BR1 time

I wonder how much chocolate was handed out to Bingley Harriers? 😊.
Other Bingley Harriers on the Fells – Jan – Apr 25
By mid April 2025 – around 60 Bingley Harriers have been out on the fells in a fell event – from a social trot to top spot – all are welcome on the fells.
Here is a scattering of things I have come across. If your race isn’t in here and you would like to share your experience let me know – your day, your race, your results, what went wrong or right. Send it to me for the next article or if it’s a longer it can go on Team App on it’s own.
Early January saw wins for Yaz Small at Giant’s Tooth BS and Vic Wilkinson at Nine Standards BM. Abby Robertson (Tighgael) completed the Challenger North Spine (160 miles Pennine Way, Hardraw to Kirk Yetholm) while Kate Farley made it third time lucky for the full Winter Spine (Edale to Kirk Yetholme, 268miles). Kate started out in knee deep snow and had to deal with a full thaw and associated cold & wet, over her week. Unimaginable. Dot watching was hard enough!
Later in January several Harriers set off on the Hebden 22 – a scout fundraising challenge. Ruth Thackray had to switch to the 15 when she started with calf trouble but still managed to come in second lady. Robbie Williams, who has been struggling with his back, also did the 15, while Matt Bloomfield, Jo Henry, Jodie Smith, Chloe Weatherhead and Cheryl Jepson finished the 22.
February saw a handful of us go over to Todmorden for Flower Scar AM 13.3km/660m 13 Feb
188 runners 42 W Mins
9 Ian Holmes M55 66 1 M55
65 Ian Ferguson M60 85
96 Amicia Lee WSEN 93
141 Joanne Henry W45 104
145 Becky Weight W65 106 1 W65

Better conditions than 2024 (sunny, warm 10C, and drier underfoot ) so faster runs for Amicia (6mins), Jo H (9 mins) and Becky (9 mins). It was slightly shorter too as 24 included a lap of the field at the start to spread the bigger English Fell Champs entry before the climb through the woods.
In March there are a couple local races that are always popular with Harriers, and this year was no exception, with dry, fine weather resulting in good running conditions.
Ilkley Moor AS 8km/401m 2 Mar 25 (233 runners)
25 49 Chris Emsley M40 44:10
53 387 David Town MSEN 49:07
86 390 David Norris M50 53:22
106 31 Mark Chatterton M50 55:47
139 52 Laura Firth FSEN 1:00:07
167 54 Helder Goncalves M40 1:03:29
170 121 Hayley Norse FSEN 1:03:31
172 65 Ami-Jayne Hargreaves FSEN 1:03:49
203 193 Harry Atkinson M70 1:10:36
223 135 Emyr Rees M50 1:15:31

Haworth Hobble BL 51km/1700m 8 Mar 25 (700 runners inc’g 50 pairs)
29 891 Adam Worrallo MV40 5:00:24
100 268 Tom Cooper M 5:41:39
117 344 Ian Ferguson MV60 5:52:02 1MV60
139 14 Steven Carney / Nick Beanland Male Pair 5:57:51
198 427 Gareth Harland MV40 6:19:15
237 447 Joanne Henry FV40 6:32:42
260 509 Samuel Jeffrey M 6:40:47
428 207 Simon Butterfield MV40 7:39:29
430 512 Cheryl Jepson F 7:40:04
431 280 Caren Crabtree FV50 7:40:09
469 143 Jason Beckett MV50 07:53:05

Beater Clough AM 10.9km/610m 15 Mar 25 (82 runners)
16 David Town M Senior 1:08:03
45 Dave Stephenson MV60 1:26:19
57 Simon Butterfield MV40 1:33:26
59 Paul Crabtree MV50 1:35:01
68 Harry Atkinson MV60 1:42:11
77 Cheryl Jepson F Senior 2:02:13
78 Caroline Francis FV50 2:02:14
79 Sarah Jones FV40 2:02:15
80 Chloe Weatherhead FV40 2:02:28

A new race for me. For some of our runners it was a social run – I think the super steep valleys and climbs came as something of a surprise 😉.
On 22 Mar Emma Moran and Ruth Thackray were 1st and 3rd Ladies at Lets talk about Chevin BM 14km / 650m, and the following weekend Jo & Dom Henry, Caren Crabtree and Cheryl Jepson took on the Blubberhouses 25, an LDWA event.
Emma was clearly just sharpening her legs for the Coledale Horseshoe AM 13.7km 915m in the Lakes on 29 Mar 25, where she was first Lady in a closely fought race with Sharon Taylor with just 4 seconds between them, and repeating her 2024 win. Simon Bell and Chris Emsley ran too.
On Sat 12 Apr the second English Fell Champs race was Newlands Memorial AM 18.5km / 1100m. We had good interest with 13 Harriers entered, and 8 made the start line amongst the 582 runners.
47 495 Ian Holmes M55 1:45:11 1M55
164 267 Emma Moran FSEN 2:04:41
207 301 Tim Lofthouse M60 2:09:44
253 529 Tom Cooper MSEN 2:17:39
363 362 Amicia Lee FSEN 2:32:32
373 283 Denise Wright F50 2:34:04
388 542 Dave Stephenson M60 2:36:50
478 366 Joanne Henry F45 2:50:39

We finished an EFC Ladies team (3) but we needed another Man to get a Mens team (5) score.

What’s Next on the Fells ?
The next Senior Bingley Fell Champs race is Coiners (BM, 10.2km 295m), on Mon 5th May alongside one of the Junior Fell Champs races so make a family day of it. A B grade race is easier (less ascent, not so rough, maybe some road sections etc) and at just over 6 miles, on Pennine moorlands familiar to around here, and a ‘flagged route’ this is a perfect next step fell race for anyone wanting to try out their fell legs.
Pre-entry £6 is on SIEntries with a race limit of 200 so enter now :
https://www.sientries.co.uk/payment_return_success.php?payment_id=2317030
Entry on the Day is advertised if the race is not full; last year some who arrived on the day did not get to run as there weren’t enough places left. So enter now.
For more information, help or any queries about running on the fells contact your Fell Team Managers Becky and Andy to chat about what would be good for you.
Becky Weight, Ladies : beckyweight@btinternet.com
Andy Jebb, Men & Juniors : andrewjebb2@gmail.com