Our own club Fell Championship kicking off at Hoppits Hill, and everything from a 5m dash against bikes to a 268m ultra challenge, in the one of the wettest Jan / Feb periods on record, but the fells rarely stop for the weather, it just adds to the challenge.

Sun 15 Feb Hoppits Hill BS 5km 210m : Bingley Harriers Fell Champs 26 No 1
This linked up with the first Club and the Yorkshire Junior Fell Champs (arranged by Dave & Eileen ‘Woodentops’ Woodhead) too so quite a few were heading over earlier for the younger Junior race. The U16, U18 and U20 were running together in the ‘Senior’ race which was only 5km.
The location was those well know ‘fells’ between Mirfield/Hopton and Huddersfield and looking at the route map you could see that it was paths, fields, woods, tracks and trails around a couple of wooded valleys just south of the river Calder, a bit like an old style cross country. The rain held off and we even got some sunshine, during a surprisingly scenic, slightly muddy in places, race.
The McKee siblings from Calder Valley were first home – Thomas (U20) 22:22, and Clara (U18) 24:24 and 8th overall showing us that ability and performance often run in families.
Below are the Bingley results including the Juniors (U16, 18 and 20) and a couple of Bingley ‘associates’ for interest. Great to see the Juniors and Seniors battling it out for places. NB For those Juniors doing some of their running with another club, it has been agreed they can compete on the Fells with Bingley Harriers. J Junior, S Senior, U/A unattached
5 Robert Carter BU16 23:38 J
13 Charlie Robinson BU18 24:54:00 J U/A
14 Charlie Porteous BU16 24:59:00 J
18 Tom Cooper Open 25:52:00 S
19 Mathew Bloomfield V40 25:56:00 S
30 Robert Brooks BU16 27:00:00 J
33 Greg Hull V60 27:56:00 S
36 Thomas Jebb BU16 28:05:00 J
43 Steve Webb V60 28:49:00 S
47 Charlotte Pedley GU16 29:32:00 J
54 Mark Chatterton V50 30:08:00 S
58 Andy Gibbons V40 30:21:00 S U/A
59 Isabelle Jebb GU18 30:22:00 J
60 Ian Ferguson MV60 30:27:00 S
76 Becky Weight F60 36:01:00 S
89 Cheryl Jepson Female 40:50:00 S
95 Bruce Duncan V70 46:29:00 S

Other Bingley Harriers out & about on the Fells Jan – Mar 26
Long distance legs.
In the middle of January Dave Stephenson spent a week on the Spine – lots of us ‘dot-watched’ his tracker, 268 miles along the Pennine way from Edale to Kirk Yetholme within the 7 day time limit, starting in knee deep snow, many dark hours running and walking, many cat naps and probably never more than a couple of hours sleep, shed several kilograms, linked up with a similar paced runner for the second part of the week, raised £4.7k for Yorkshire Cancer Research, and much more. Kate Farley, herself a previous Spine finisher, had helped Dave prepare, not just the keeping going, but eating, looking after your feet, eating, making the most of your time at hut stops, eating, etc… Well done Dave, and Kate, who was part of the Spine support team this year.

Bingley Harriers up and down fells and dales
Sat 17 Jan Hebden 15 & 22
A Sea Scout organised challenge event and a popular early season event for longer miles. 7 Harriers in the mix, 1 in the ‘15’ with 190 others, and 6 in the ‘22’ with 167 others :
21 100 Brad McHale Bingley Harriers M 02:58
Brad’s first visit to the Hebden 15 and his longest event to date. Well done Brad - a strong race.
2 195 Mathew Bloomfield Bingley Harriers M 03:41
5 247 Tom Cooper Bingley Harriers M 03:44
48 225 Simon Butterfield Bingley Harriers M 04:34
64 322 Joanne Henry Bingley Harriers F 04:42
75 146 Greg Trusselle Bingley Harriers M 04:48
129 188 Jason Beckett Bingley Harriers M 05:37
Mat – 2nd finisher in the Hebden 22 with Tom on his heels in 5th

Sun 18 Jan Stanbury Splash BM 12km 400m
At Penistone Hill just beyond Haworth, with 192 runners and a winning time of 48:39
121 418 Paul Spencer 108/145 (M) 13/17 (MV55) 30/37 (MV50) 01:15:36
171 305 Harry Atkinson 137/145 (M) 2/4 (MV70) 2/6 (MV70) 01:30:46

Sun 1 Feb Runners v Riders BS 4.9m 890'
195 Runners & Cyclists headed up to Appletreewick to see if running or cycling is fastest. Depends on the day, what the ground is like and who is there. This time a cyclist got the top spot with runners in 2nd and 3rd.
Three runners from Bingley and Vic was second Lady home :
20 203 Victoria Wilkinson Lady Runner Bingley Harriers 37:29
56 281 Jo Buckley Lady Runner Bingley Harriers 42:00
170 400 Harry Atkinson MV70 Runner Bingley Harriers 58:18

Sat 7 Feb Wadsworth Trog BL 31km 1110m
If you like Calderdale moors and tussocks in a bog this is the race for you although I have been assured that route changes in recent years mean there are now fewer tussocks. Robbie W clearly is a ‘tussocks in a bog’ man as he was there again (third or more?) this year. And Ciaran O’Neill – but I will give Cairan the benefit of the doubt. Well done both – especially on the navigation front – I don’t think there was much visibility on the tops.
18th 10 Robert Williams M40 03:47:48
39th 30 Ciaran O'Neill MSEN 04:02:00

Sat 7 Feb Rombalds Stride 23miles
Another bog fest over local moors - Rombalds, Ilkley, Bingley, Burley - especially after one of the wettest January’s on record. As a Scout originated challenge, with a walking option, I guess there are good food stops :-). 193 finishers with first Man and Lady home Olli Murphy (Ilkley) 2:37 and Aisling Wall (Horsfoth) 3:15. Bingley finishers were :
63 61 Simon Butterfield 59/143 (M) 16/28 (MV40) 03:57:23
111 203 Joanne Henry 16/50 (F) 4/9 (FV45) 04:34:41
167 412 Aaron Riley 129/143 (M) 19/22 (MV35) 05:10:04

Sun 1 Mar Ilkley Moor Fell Race AS 8km 401m
Arrived just in time to see the end of the Junior races with lots of Blue & White hoops scoring points in the Junior Club Fell Championship. Not a Senior Fell Champs race this year but a local race always attracts a few Bingley runners, especially on a bright, breezy day. Entries hit ‘Full’ the week before but there did appear to be entries on the day too. First home were Sam Bentham, Ilkley 37.14 and Ellen Crombie, Carnethy, 42.43, 9th overall and only just missing the ladies record of 42.00.
Bingley runners & results :
66 58 Angela Curtis 7/65 (F) 5/18 (FSEN) 52:58:00
160 97 Joanne Henry 26/65 (F) 4/12 (FV45) 01:02:42
181 294 Becky Weight 31/65 (F) 1/3 (FV65) 01:05:34

In addition Bill Belcher crossed the Pennines to run at Windy Hill, Harry Atkinson ran one of his favourite local races at Midgely Moor, Ian Ferguson headed up to the Eden Valley for High Cup Nick, Ian Holmes picked up a 1st M60 at Doctor’s Gate, the first English Fell Champs race, and Cheryl Jepson took herself off for the day to complete the 20 mile Hope Valley Round.

What’s coming up
Tomorrow (Sat 7 Mar) is the second English Fell Champs race at Black Combe AM – entries are still open on SIEntries. There may be a Mens Vets team result 😊
Sun 21 Mar – the next Club Fell Champs at Beater Clough AM 10.9km, 610m How steep can it be? Entries open on SIEntries.
Sat 18 Apr – Blackstone Edge AS 5.7km, 366m Club and English Fell Champs – double scoring. Entries open for FRA members on 9th Mar at 10am and for others on 16th Mar. Be ready to enter or ask someone else to enter you (they will need your SIEntries ID). Places will go quickly.
Any queries, want to know more or just try your feet out on the fells – let me know beckyweight@btinternet.com , Ladies Fell Team Mgr. See you out on the fells in 2026.