Harriers lined up ahead of Gormire Gamble
Sunday 19 October was a beautiful early autumn morning for the Thirsk and Sowerby Harriers to host a fell race, the Gormire Gamble, organised by Alan Simpson and supported by Marc Davies as lead marshal as well as many other Harriers volunteering. There were 143 runners taking on the course, which starts and finishes at the top of Sutton Bank and takes off from a relatively flat start ahead of a descent down the bank, before circling Gormire Lake and then a steep climb back up to the finish sprint.
Some of the Harriers collecting their age group prizes at Gormire Gamble – Ashley Dodgson, Paul Peacock and Rob Burn
There was a new course record set by Sam Gunning from Vale of York AC, who eased to the win with Tim Grimwood from Swaledale Runners in second. In the female category, Jodi Bemand from West Cheshire AC claimed the women’s win ahead of Katherine Davis (F55). St Theresa’s AC claimed victory in the female team competition and Esk Valley Fell Club taking the men’s team prize. There was a strong turnout from the Harriers themselves, with age category prizes for Paul Peacock, Christine Burn, Rob Burn, Ashley Dodgson, Kirsty Naylor and Sarah Harrison. Other Harriers racing were Richard Grant, Dave Wood, Luke Shannon, Alex Miller, Helen Ashworth, Tom Springett, Fran Jeffery, Natalie Lyth, Adrian Wood, Alan Longmire and Carol Thompson.
Stuart Waters and his daughter Abbie at the Yorkshire 10 mile
Down in York, several Harriers were taking on the Yorkshire Marathon with Tom Levi finishing in 3:03:21 and Paul Bradford in 4:27:09. Other Harriers were racing the Yorkshire 10 mile, with Sara Armitage finishing in 1:40:32, and Stuart Waters finishing in 1:38:26 alongside (until the sprint finish) his youngest daughter Abbie (a former club member).
Kelly and Sam ahead of the Rome Half Marathon
Further afield, Samantha Weston and Kelly Grieve were having a short Roman running holiday – completing the Roma Pineto parkrun on Saturday and then the Rome Half Marathon on Sunday. Sam finished in 2:10:48 and Kelly in 2:17:34.
Harriers taking on the Ultra Tour Yorkshire Dales 50k
On Saturday 18 October, three Harriers raced the Ultra Tour Yorkshire Dales 50k, previously known as the Yorkshire Trod – a self-navigated route starting and finishing in Grassington. The route takes you through some beautiful countryside – west out to Threshfield, then Weets Top and Malham, along the shore of Malham Tarn before heading across the moor descending into Arncliffe. From Arncliffe, you then go through Littondale to Litton before a very steep climb and descent into the next valley and the villages of Buckden, Starbottom and Kettlewell before climbing up on the Dales Way and returning to Grassington. Matthew Morrice, Esther Harrison and Jemima Jones completed the race, which covers 1200m of ascent, with some great results – Matthew came in 11th overall and 10th male in 6 hours 24 minutes, Esther was 13th overall and 3rd female in 6 hours 30 minutes and Jemima Jones finished 22nd overall in 7 hours 29 minutes.
