V S Update - 23 July 2017

- Training Tuesdays 25 July and 1 August
- VS Summer BBQ 11 August
- Evensplits 5k race 2
- West Yorks Track and Field
- City of York Track and Field
- Leeds Country Way
- VSGP results/reports from Hyde Park, Eccup, VS handicap, Humber Bridge, Burn Valley
- Junior results/reports from Pudsey, Hyde Park, Eccup, Methley, VS junior mile
- Relay results/reports from Bramham, Danefield, Golden Acre, Washburn Valley
- Other results/reports from Leeds 10k (John Hobbs winner), Bramham, Roundhay, Halifax, Saunders, Lyke Wake, Ledsham, Dales Trail, Kentmere, Bodington, VSCC time trial

Training Tuesdays 25 July and 1 August

- 25 July - all sessions from Far Moss (juniors session not available to waiting list)
- 1 August - most sessions from Far Moss. Fell runners please check VSFR facebook to see if there is a session planned.

Valley Striders Summer Barbecue - Friday 11 August

Following the last 2 successful summer barbecues we have decided to repeat the event again this year. The evening will include food, drinks and hopefully some games and music. We'll provide more details as things are firmed up.

All Valley Striders members are welcome to attend, along with partners and kids. The event is being promoted to both the running and the cycling section.

The costs are £11 adults and £6.50 kids - includes main course (including steak) and dessert. Veggie options available.

We have set up events on 3 Facebook groups - VSAC, VSAC Juniors and VSCC. Please click 'going' on one of these Facebook events if you definitely plan to attend so we know you are coming, and so that you can be kept up to date with plans.

Please also post on Facebook if you require a vegetarian option.

If you're not on Facebook, please email [email protected]

We will need your booking via Facebook (or e-mail) AND you will need to pay in advance (by 10pm on Sunday 6th August at the latest) to secure your place.

Online banking should be paid to sort code 53-70-00, a/c number 72143851 (note that this is NOT the normal VS account), reference to include your name and the word "BBQ".

Hope you can make it.

Evensplits 5k race 2 at Brownlee Centre - Wed 26 July

See the Race Reports section for a report from race 1. The next race is on Wednesday 26 July and is open to age 11 and above.

West Yorks T & F - Sun 6 August

The final meeting in the series will be Sunday 6th August at Wakefield. Entry is just £4 in total. There are at least 3 events (2 track, 1 field) for all age groups. This is a great opportunity for our juniors to gain some experience with no pressure, then be ready to take part next year. Entries needed by 26 July. Contact [email protected] for more information.

City of York AC T & F Open Meeting - Saturday 2 September

Note that this meeting includes events for under-9 age group, minimum age is 7 on day of event. See http://www.cityofyorkathleticclub.net/york-open-2/ for information. Contact [email protected] for more information.

Leeds Country Way - Sunday 3 September (from Myra)

We have entered 4 teams into the LCW Relay. If you haven't signed up yet and are now available, please let me know [email protected] . We could do with a few more reserves and based on previous years there is a very reasonable chance you'll be asked to run.

RACE RESULTS/REPORTS - Grand Prix & Junior Races

Hyde Park Mile

NB Grand Prix points will be merged with the "Golden Mile" race at Beckett Park on 23 September

		Chip Time	GP Pts
17	Jack Crawford	0:05:28	100
27	Graham Jones	0:05:39	98
39	Roy Huggins	0:05:49	95
65	Sean Cook	0:06:03	93
75	Ken Fox	0:06:10	90
92	Leroy Sutton	0:06:22	88
106	Louise Cazan	0:06:30	85
161	Chris Sawyer	0:07:15	83
166	Brian Tyrrell	0:07:18	80

Eccup 10

Congratulations to Ruth who won her age category and a voucher, and to Gary, Leroy, Amanda and Ruth who all won Yorkshire Vets age category trophies.

		Chip Time	GP Pts
6	Daryl Hibberd	1:00:16	100
17	Matt Chadwick	1:01:39	99
31	Gary Mann	1:03:47	98	3^rd M35
114	Iain Currie	1:12:55	97
120	Andy Pagdin	1:13:22	96
145	Ian Rosser	1:15:23	95
153	Graham Pawley	1:16:02	94
157	Leroy Sutton	1:16:03	93	3^rd M60
236	Amanda Spencer	1:20:41	92	2^nd F45
242	Claire Capper	1:20:43	91
269	Steph Gledhill	1:21:33	90
275	Ruth Warren	1:21:57	89	1^st F60
285	Claire Senior	1:22:00	88
367	Liz Reddington	1:25:55	87
449	Nicola Hartley	1:29:38	86
487	Lindsey Mccreadie	1:31:15	85
496	Bob Jackson	1:31:20	84
537	Sarah Mann	1:34:01	83
574	Pascale Fotherby	1:36:20	82
594	Bethany Lovell	1:37:10	81
584	Chloe Hudson	1:37:20	80
636	Anne Jones	1:40:11	79
702	Paul Stokes	1:45:23	78

VS Summer Handicap

As neither Rachel nor Julie had any race results on Graham's database, Steph Gledhill was awarded the trophy (see picture on website)

		Gun time	Hcap	Chip Time	GP Pts
1	Rachel Bentley	0:55:12	16:45	0:38:27	83
2	Julie Hagerty	0:55:28	08:45	0:46:43	76
3	Steph Gledhill	0:55:57	16:00	0:39:57	79
4	Rob Hamilton	0:56:20	23:15	0:33:05	92
5	Sarah Graham	0:56:24	22:00	0:34:24	88
6	Matt Chadwick	0:56:33	26:15	0:30:18	99
7	Alisdair Burns	0:56:43	28:45	0:27:58	100
8	Simon Vallance	0:56:48	24:15	0:32:33	93
9	Myra Jones	0:56:50	23:30	0:33:20	91
10	Jack Crawford	0:57:02	25:15	0:31:47	97
11	John Wallace	0:57:03	16:30	0:40:33	78
12	Steve Dixon	0:57:23	18:45	0:38:38	82
13	Joel Giddings	0:57:36	23:45	0:33:51	89
14	John Hussey	0:57:42	18:15	0:39:27	80
15	Anthony Fryer	0:57:51	25:30	0:32:21	94
16	Tim Straughan	0:58:03	25:45	0:32:18	95
17	Gary Mann	0:58:06	26:00	0:32:06	96
18	Bethany Lovell	0:58:23	11:15	0:47:08	75
19	Sarah Wood	0:58:37	20:45	0:37:52	84
20	Roy Huggins	0:58:41	24:00	0:34:41	87
21	Leroy Sutton	0:58:45	21:15	0:37:30	85
22	Joe Hanney	0:58:51	23:15	0:35:36	86
23	James Tarran	0:59:32	26:00	0:33:32	90
24	Bob Jackson	0:59:54	15:45	0:44:09	77
25	Anne Worrall	1:00:05	10:45	0:49:20	73
26	Neil Hall	1:00:54	13:15	0:47:39	74
27	John Hobbs	1:00:58	30:15	0:30:43	98
28	Sean Cook	1:02:25	23:15	0:39:10	81
29	Maureen Coffey	1:04:00	08:45	0:55:15	72

Bingley Show 10k trail

40

Joe Hanney

0:54:29

100

Humber Bridge Half 25 June (from Chris Sawyer)

Hayley Nancolas 1:33:41 fifth female / first F35
Chris Sawyer 1:45:29

Burn Valley Half 9 July (from Chris Sawyer)

Hayley Nancolas 1:41:21 first female
Chris Sawyer 1:57:55
Ruth Warren 1:59:06 first F60

Burn Valley is a tough course - always undulating with some steep climbs. Start and finish in Masham - a small field - less than 250 - well organised by Ripon Runners and three drinks in the goody bag - Black Sheep beer, Yorkshire Tea and water as well as a t-shirt with the hill profile of the course printed on it. Good value at only £16.

Grand Prix table

The grand prix table and all race results in the Grand Prix are now on the website www.valleystriders.org.uk/vsclubch.htm

All marathons, half marathons and ultra races are eligible for GP points. please send results of any I've missed to [email protected] .

Next events are Vale of York Half on 10 September, Handicap on 12 September and Golden Mile on 23 September.

RACE RESULTS/REPORTS - Junior Races

Pudsey Junior Race

2	Jamie Walker	09:46
3	Jason Twigg	10:09
7	Toby Walker	10:59
42	George Nancolas	13:20
46	Alec Twigg	13:36

Hyde Park Half Mile

2	Alvie O'Brien	02:43.6
3	Sophie Turner	02:44.4
6	Tally Diamond	02:53.7
7	Keira Jones	02:56.5
8	Imogen Idle	02:59.3
12	Laurie O'Brien	03:12.3

Eccup Junior 1 mile

Valley Striders took the first 3 boys' positions and first girl, and were biggest club with 18 of the 48 runners.

1	Alfie Jones	05:40
2	Leon Jones	05:53
3	Jamie Walker	05:55
4	Josephine Pawley	06:00
6	Theo Rosenberg	06:08
9	Flo Pell	06:21
16	Toby Walker	06:34
24	Ben Shenderey	07:01
25	Michael Fotherby	07:02
26	Dexter Rosenberg	07:03
30	Gus Cawcutt	07:17
31	Daniel Fotherby	07:19
32	Oliver Lubiecki	07:28
33	Alec Twigg	07:30
34	Joseph Whitehouse	07:38
36	Henry Pell	07:50
40	Ben Williams-Dustan	08:28
42	Darcey Mollitt	08:41

Eccup Junior 2 mile

7

James Williams-Dustan

13:26

Junior Canal Race at Methley

2	Jamie Walker	08:28
13	Flo Pell	09:17
15	Toby Walker	09:29
55	Alec Twigg	11:19
56	Henry Pell	11:26

VS Junior Mile, school years 1 to 5

1	Sam Preston	06:26	M	4
2	Toby Walker	06:39	M	4
3	Felix Linley	06:41	M	4
4	Luke Mackreth	06:54	M	3
5	Gus Cawcutt	07:05	M	4
6	Jessica Baxter	07:08	F	3
7	Ben Shenderey	07:22	M	3
8	Oliver Lubiecki	07:28	M	3
9	Emily Thomson	07:31	F	4
10	Cameron MacLeod	07:37	M	5
11	Marcus Johnstone	07:48	M	4
12	Jude Porter	07:53	M	3
13	Lily Bickle	07:54	F	4
14	James Lingham	08:04	M	4
15	William Barton	08:10	M	2
16	Joseph Whitehouse	08:25	M	3
17	Nuala Hagerty	08:29	F	5
18	Katy Irvine	08:33	F	4
19	Alfie Young	08:36	M	3
20	Archie Smith	08:38	M	1
21	Marco Teoli	08:43	M	4
22	Ella Lim	08:48	F	4
23	Darcey Mollitt	08:49	F	2
24	Edie Souter	08:51	F	4
25	Martha O'Shea	08:51	F	4
26	Isabel Porter	09:21	F	6
27	Yusuf Akhtar	09:36	M	3
28	Jasper Bickle	10:40	M	1
29	Katie Lockwood	10:46	F	3

VS Mile, school years 6 and above

1	Jamie Walker	05:57	M	6
2	Joe Irvine	06:18	M	10
3	Tom Mackreth	06:20	M	7
4	Feargus Hagerty	06:25	M	8
5	Richard Walker	06:28	M	>12
6	Sophie Turner	06:29	F	10
7	James Preston	06:30	M	8
8	Sophia Lubiecki	06:31	F	9
9	Josephine Pawley	06:32	F	6
10	Alfie Tyrrell	06:33	M	8
11	Noah Philpott	06:38	M	10
12	Isaac Koi	06:43	M	6
13	Elijah Gatewood	06:47	M	7
14	Finley McLaren	07:10	M	6
15	Sam Mackreth	07:12	M	6
16	Brian Tyrrell	07:21	M	>12
17	Paul Mackreth	07:38	M	>12
18	Freddie Rosenberg	07:43	M	6
19	Charlie Rosenberg	07:44	M	>12
20	Heather Pawley	08:03	F	>12
21	Annabel Lim	08:16	F	6
22	Ben Williams-Dustan	08:22	M	6
23	James Worrall	08:24	M	8

Next junior mile races will be Tuesday 12 September

RACE REPORTS/RESULTS - Relays

Endure 24 at Bramham (from Hannah Corne)

The temptation to write, "we went to Bramham, it was hot, we ran, it was hard, the end." is quite overwhelming, but I thought maybe I should jot down a few more words...

On quite possibly the hottest day of the year so far, the 'Valley Striders Lovely Ladies' and 'Valley Strider Vets' along with Tim and Paul descended on Bramham park , preparing for an epic 24 hours of running and team bonding.

We had all pitched our tents etc the night before so in theory there was very little else to bring apart from some food and possibly a book or two to read leisurely between running the laps of the 5 mile trail route (This never happened). I still managed to pack far too much stuff, 99% of it I didn't need and didn't make it out of the several bags that I had brought.

The ladies team all arrived feeling relaxed and happy in the knowledge that no one wanted to push it very hard. The order had been arranged in the pub on Thursday night and we were there to enjoy the experience. The most pressing issue was when we could crack open the delicious cakes that Sue and Amanda had brought and where to put the deck chairs to get the most sun. We weren't that bothered about winning.....

Up steps Sue Sunderland to take on the first lap.... 'Speedy Sue' as she is now known did a tremendous job on the first lap and very much lay down the gauntlet. The idea that we weren't going to be competitive as a team had been blown out of the water in that first 37 (approx.) minutes and as Sue came in to hand the baton over to Lou, I was swearing quite loudly in my head as I knew that I would actually have to put some effort in (some thing that I had been adverse to over the last 18 months)

The first laps ran by everyone passed by quite uneventfully, we got our heads down and cracked on. New recruit Jenny arrived and we were confident that with her running for us we would extend our lead by a fair way (we were now taking the competition very seriously...) Unfortunately we seemed to break Jenny on the second of her double lap with a nasty groin injury and she had to leave us. (left some bloody amazing cake type biscuits though!) So we were now down to seven lovely ladies. Amanda ran a solid double lap to help with her training for her ultra in a couple of weeks and we were all up for our second laps. We now had a plan. We were going to win.

After our second laps, night was falling and we all had to put on our fancy Silva head torches that they were lending out for free. It was a new experience for Lou, Liz and Emma and they all loved it! There is something quite wonderful about running in the woods, in the dark, looking at a sky where the sun never really set fully.

For me, the worst part of the experience was gearing myself up for my 6am run after finishing my last one at around 2.30. Taking off my sweaty kit to try and get some rest, and hanging it up outside, only to realise at 5.30 that my kit was still a bit damp and I had to put it back on! At that point the only thing that forced me up and in to that kit was thinking about my teammates and knowing that we were all in it together (and that we were winning) ;-)

I think the early morning laps were the worst for everyone as we were all a bit creaky and cold, but the glorious sunshine soon warmed us all up and we were raring to go again!

I had the privilege to run the last lap and I smiled the whole way round, at that point I loved running again, I loved Bramham Park and I loved Valley Striders! As I ran up the 'last bloody bit', the Lovely Ladies of Valley Striders were all there and we all crossed the finish line together, a fitting end to a cracking 24 hours!

I must say that even after spending 24 hours together on a small campsite, we didn't actually talk to each other that much, however we shared a brilliant experience and everyone was fabulous... did I mention that we won...?!

A MASSIVE cheer and high five needs to go to the quiet yet confident Valley Striders Vets team, who also won their category... and the super human Tim Straughan and Paul Smith who both entered the 100 mile club and Paul came 3rd out of the solo men, truly fantastic!

Also a huge cheer to Sam for the epic support and helping our tired brains work out the running orders when all we could do was stare at the white board and try and work out what time it was.

Also to super stats Kathy, who created the white board of heaven and kept count of all of our laps without spilling a drop of her G and T!

Right, who is in for next year...?!

Endure 24 (from Paul Sanderson)

Back at the start of January Ian Sanderson asked if a few people wanted to put together a team to take part in a 24 hour relay. The more of us there were, the fewer laps we would each have to run. So six months later we found ourselves with a team of eight men ("Valley Striders Vets") and eight women ("Valley Striders Lovely Ladies") in Bramham Park, not entirely sure what we had let ourselves in for. And we also had two solo runners, Paul Smith and Tim Straughan.

The course was a five mile loop on trails through the Bramham Park estate. A yellow wristband acted as the baton and there was a great view of the park approaching the finish line/handover point, which was very helpful when your leg was about to start. Simon Vallance and Sue Sunderland ran the first leg for the men's and women's teams and Kathy managed to acquire a white board to keep track of the order we were running in.

The men's team consisted of Simon, Graham Jones, Ian, myself, Alan Hutchinson, Roy Huggins, Andy Bell and Richard Irvine while the women's team was made up of Sue, Louise Cazan, Hannah Corne, Liz Wood, Amanda Seims, Jenny Watt, Kim Threadgall-Spence and Emma Steel. Jenny unfortunately had to retire injured after a double lap and Richard made the very sensible decision to go home to bed after his last lap. My memories of the 24 hours are a bit vague, highlights include starting my third leg on the stroke of midnight and my fourth leg at around 4.40 am. And a particular highlight was Roy asking to do a sixth leg, which meant I didn't have to a fifth.

Paul was third in the male solo category and Tim was sixth. They both ran 21 laps, an amazing 105 miles. Other very clear memories are Paul lying in front of the medal table unable to move for quite a while and Kim setting off on her final lap looking just as fresh as on her first. The men came first in the eight runners and over men's team competition and the women were first in the equivalent women's competition. I ought to mention that, unlike the women, the men were the only team in their category. All in all, a wonderful weekend and thank you to Ian and Kathy for all their hard work in putting the Valley Striders teams together.

Endure 24 Results

Men solo winner - 24 laps in 24hrs 23 mins; 75 started
Men 3^rd - Paul Smith, 21 laps in 22hrs 11mins
Men 6^th - Tim Straughan, 21 laps in 24hrs 57mins
Women solo winner - 22 laps in 23hrs 59mins; 31 started
Men small teams (up to 4 runners) winners - 40 laps in 24:36
Men large teams (up to 8 runners) winners - Valley Striders, 38 laps in 24:07; 1 started
Women large teams winners - Valley Striders Lovely Ladies, 36 laps in 23:27; 3 started
Women large teams 2^nd Bramham Babes (Kate McIntyre ran 7 laps)
Full results http://www.frsystems.co.uk/2017-endure-24-leeds/ Include pair and small teams results

Danefield Relay

Congratulations to Sophia, Sofia and Imogen who were first junior team, edging out a mixed team from Skipton AC by 47 seconds.

The leading VS team were 2 minutes behind the winners from Ripon Runners and just 25 seconds off a podium place.

4	VS One Direction	O	Daryl Hibberd	18:47	0:59:09
			Matt Chadwick	20:31
			Jon Pownall	19:51
32	VS Jimi Hendrix Experience	MV40	Simon Vallance	22:34	1:10:20
			Graham Jones	23:50
			Joe Hanney	23:56
36	East Leeds Plodders	O	Daniel Johnson	?	1:11:28
			Theo Johnson	?
			Daryl Hibberd	19:15
46	VS Pink Floyd	MV40	Anthony Fryer	22:32	1:12:50
			Steve Dixon	26:22
			Graham Pawley	23:56
67	VS Sister Sledge	F	Amanda Seims	24:22	1:19:05
			Liz Wood	28:26
			Claire Capper	26:17
69	VS Junior Girls	J	Sophia Lubiecki	25:40	1:19:58
			Sofia Robottom	26:09
			Imogen Idle	28:09
102	VS Three Degrees	O	John Hussey	27:11	1:26:42
			Steph Gledhill	28:05
			Bethany Lovell	31:26
110	VS Dream Team	F	Liz Reddington	28:35	1:31:30
			Chloe Hudson	33:06
			Nicola Hartley	29:49
115	Triffling (?)	MV40?	Michael Lyon	28:39	1:35:25
			Elaine Craiggs	32:11
			Richard Clough	34:35

Golden Acre Relay (from Myra)

Valley Striders were represented in 6 teams at a sunny Golden Acre Park with Daz (running the fastest VS time of the night) teaming up with new member Theo Johnson and Theo's dad. We were runners up in both the Mixed and Ladies Vets categories.

12	VS Blind Leading The Blind	Mixed	Myra Jones	17:22	0:50:38
			Gary Mann	16:48
			Andy Parker	16:28
17	Valley Vets JKP	Men's Vets	James Tarran	17:17	0:51:37
			Kevin McMullan	18:15
			Paul Fotherby	16:05
35	Hi Jo Jo	Men's Open	Daniel Johnson	19:57	0:54:37
			Theo Johnson	19:25
			Daryl Hibberd	15:15
42	Last Minute Striders	Mixed	Sean Cook	19:04	0:55:43
			Sue Sunderland	20:33
			Jon Pownall	16:06
55	Valley Va Va Voom!	Ladies Vets	Amanda Seims	19:06	0:59:22
			Liz Wood	21:14
			Rachel Mackie	19:02
97	Valley Strugglers	Ladies Vets	Pascale Fotherby	23:30	1:06:47
			Steph Gledhill	21:32
			Liz Reddington	21:45

Washburn Valley

Two days after Golden Acre it was the turn of the junior relays teams to compete at Washburn Valley. The team contained many of the regulars competing in the West Yorkshire leagues, but also four new members (Sam P, Joseph, James and Oliver) and one new to team competition (Katy). See picture on website.

Pos	Team Name	Runner	Time	Team
2	Valley Striders Team 1	Sam Preston	07:56	32:22
		Josie Pawley	08:15
		Alvie O'Brien	07:59
		Sophie Turner	08:12
6	Valley Striders Team 2	Keira Jones	08:33	33:48
		Toby Walker	08:33
		Sophia Lubiecki	08:21
		Jamie Walker	07:47
9	Valley Striders Team 3	Joe Irvine	08:02	35:11
		Dan Fotherby	09:22
		Jess Baxter	09:26
		Sam Hollis	08:21
22	Valley Striders Team 4	Joseph Whitehouse	10:03	40:17
		James Preston	09:21
		Oliver Lubiecki	09:42
		Katy Irvine	11:11

RACE REPORTS

Please send your reports to [email protected]

Leeds 10k

Congratulations to race winner John Hobbs (see picture on website)

1	John Hobbs	00:32:23
9	Rav Panesar	00:34:57
503	Paul White	00:45:49
1885	Louise Jennings	00:53:48
1595	Paul Jones	00:54:25
2626	Rachel Waters	00:58:53
6331	Amanda Lea-Langton	01:21:07

Bramham 10k

See picture on website (also in Wetherby News)

2	Daryl Hibberd	00:36:42
6	James Tarran	00:40:24
10	Robert Hamilton	00:41:14
11	Myra Jones	00:41:22	2^nd F
14	Roy Huggins	00:42:49
15	Sean Fitzgerald	00:42:58
21	Leroy Sutton	00:45:04	1^st M60
39	Susan Sunderland	00:47:27	1^st F50
60	Liz Reddington	00:52:33
70	Sarah Mann	00:54:03
85	Abi Frankland	00:58:14
91	Chloe Hudson	00:59:22
100	Anne Jones	01:02:20
114	Maureen Coffey	01:10:49

Roundhay 10k

23	Adam Parton	0:47:03
43	Dawn Parton	0:51:55
85	Rachel Waters	1:03:28
119	finished

Congratulations to Dawn who finished 1^st W40 and won some vouchers

Halifax Marathon 2^nd July (from Rob Hamilton)

I have supported various children's charities through the years by participating in bike rides through the Yorkshire Dales. This year I decided to do something a bit different by running a marathon to raise funds for my favourite Leeds Children's cancer ward.

I briefly mentioned this to the Thursday crew. However did not mention that I was running with a back pack comprising of a stone in weight. I don't know which one was fool hardy; running one of the most challenging marathons in the UK without following a training programme or running with a stone in weight. I suspect both.

During warm-up I decided to wear my Yorkshire cancer T-shirt. I thought great no other Striders present to witness my fool hardy task that I set myself. However I spoke too soon "Where's your striders vest" from a strong Yorkshire accent. It was Andy Settle. We exchanged banter as he now runs under some insignificant club in Halifax. He informs me he will be supporting our next striders Handicap event.

The route is a single lap for half marathon runners and two for the marathon. During the opening miles there were hills after hills. I thought this was mis-guided to complete a marathon with weight. To my surprise I completed the first lap under 2 hours and feeling comfortable. My fears became a reality with the sun making an appearance. I changed my strategy and decided just to enjoy the second lap if there is such a thing. I immersed myself in water, consuming as many bananas and water melons as possible. I chatted to the crowd and listened to the words of support from a grinning Andy (as I recall get a move on my granny could run faster!). I am normally focused with the task in hand, but enjoyed observing Halifax's diversity of industrial heritage, urban and woodland as many runners passed me.

To summarise I had a satisfactory Sunday long run. The event is rather a low key event, not well sign posted to reach the start and there were technical issues with finishing times. Overall I was delighted to complete the marathon in order to support Leeds Children's cancer ward.

Results

Males
1st Daniel Mitchell West Cheshire 3hr 9m 51s
2nd Stephen Kirk City of York 3hr 10m 33s
3rd Sam Blanshard Calder Valley Fell runners 3hr 12m 49s
28th Rob Hamilton Valley Striders AC 4hr 22m 1s (Carrying a stone in weight)
Females
1st Zoe Heath Newcastle Tri Club NTC 4hr 12m 19s
2nd Andrea Blanshard Calder Valley Fell Runners 4hr 14m 49s
3rd Beth Taylor-Jones 100 Marathon Club 4hr 26m 15s
Only 67 finished.

Saunders Lakeland Mountain Marathon (from Mick Loftus)

The Saunders this year was based in the western Lake District fells around Ennerdale and Buttermere. The weather forecast was good and all was set for a lovely couple of days in the hills.

Anthony and I both entered the Klets class. This is a solo class described as for 'very fit high level mountain travellers', oh well, I wasn't planning to win. There are a number of others classes for teams of two, about 450 teams were competing this year.

Day one was long and hard and the weather didn't turn out as forecast, strong wind and rain came in and caught later runners (me!) still out on the hill.

Day two was shorter, with good weather and clear visibility.

		Day one	Day two	Total
1^st	Matt Reedy	05:33:41	03:50:04	09:23:45
10^th	Anthony Fryer	07:44:44	04:19:30	12:04:14
14^th	Mick Loftus	08:30:17	04:27:05	12:57:22

Thankfully 16 competitors completed the Klets class ensuring I wasn't last.

Lyke Wake Challenge 8 July (from Sarah Smith)

Jon Pownall had a great traverse of the North York moors covering just over 40 miles, from Osmotherley to Ravenscar, coming in 4th place in just under 7 hours, in blistering temperatures.

He sported fluorescent new shoes for the event but they were well and truly christened in the bogs some of you will have dipped in, just past the Lion Inn, Blakey Ridge.

Jayson Cavill 05:27
Simon Jones 06:22
Peter Boyes 06:23
Jonathan Pownall 06:53
Shelli Gordon First female 07:11
Sarah Smith 08:50
4 retired and there were 108 finishers.

Next year let's get a VS team together although it may be too soon for Jon to commit to this one again. Such a fantastic achievement and so well done!

Ledsham Leap (from Amanda Seims)

The second of this year's country trail races was a fast 5.7 miles on very runnable flat fields, tracks and roads (I wore road shoes!)

1st place Oliver Smith (U/A) 37:36
8th place (1st female) Amanda Seims 44:23
joint 9th place (joint 2nd female) Rachel Mackie and Sarah Grant 44:34
18th place (4th female) Hannah Corne 54:48
Final finisher ran 1:25:18

So Valley Striders ladies covered the fastest 4 spots which is fantastic.

Three races are needed to count in the overall series so let's keep this up!

Dales Trail 30 (from Kim Spence)

On Saturday 15 July, myself, Graham Jones, Clive Bandy and John Hussey took part in the second race of the Dales Trail Series. The DT30 is a 32 km trail race starting in Muker and winds its way up through rocky and muddy terrain to 'Tan Hill Inn' which is the highest pub in England. Unfortunately we didn't stop for a pint and instead continued across some open moorland into a tough headwind before hitting the penine way for the last few miles which if you have anything left in your legs is very fast running!

Unfortunately I didn't have anything left in my legs for a speedy finish and could have quite happily walked the last couple of miles which was a similar story from a lot of people I talked to!

Graham Jones once again finished as first Valley Strider and 35th overall (6th in his age category) in a time of 3 hours 10 minutes and 12 seconds and quietly dropped into the conversation that he hadn't raced further than half marathon distance since 1990! He started off at a nice pace and steadily worked his way through the pack finishing strongly.

Clive was second to finish in 3 hours 16 minutes 55 seconds and 44th overall.

I was third back in 3 hours 19 minutes 7 seconds and 49th overall (5th female).

John was next in 4 hours 17 minutes and 54 seconds, 170th overall and 2nd in his category! John is the only one to be taking part in the Grand Slam (the final race will be over 42km) and he is a good position to finish in the top three in his category....good luck for the final race John!

The race organiser is keen for us to get more Valley Striders entered next year. The races tend to fill up very quickly but they are great trail races and always a very relaxed atmosphere around the course.

Dales Trail 30 (from John Hussey)

Dales Trail 30Km Saturday 15th July 2017

This is the mid distance event of the Grand Slam, nicely in-between the 20Km earlier in the year and the 40Km to come in September. All the races have some 800-1000m of ascent to add to the fun.They are a cracking series of Trail races taking part in the delightful Swaledale, this one started from Muker. The forecast in the morning of the race was for mist/fog along with showers—fortunately for us the mist did not create any navigation issues and there were only a few drops of rain. The start of the race is some 20mins of walking through meadows which is very pleasant but more of that later!

The event is incredibly well organised to the extent that we all had to go single file past a video camera, in the event of someone being missing at the end they could put a face to the number and know who they were searching for. Simple, safe and effective.

A total of 262 runners completed the course with 4 Valley Striders taking part. Results as follows:
Graham Jones 35th place 3.10.12
Clive Bandy 44th place 3.16.55
Kim Threadgall-Spence 49th place 3.19.07
John Hussey 170th place 4.17.54

The winner, Ben Livesey, finished in a new course record of 2.20.17—twice my speed!

The course takes you up from the valley onto the High Fells and then to the Tan Hill Inn. From here it traverses moorland terrain with fine views into the Swaledale Valleys before a horrible, rough and steep, ascent up Swinner Gill nicely finishing off already tired legs.

As for me, well the less said the better I'm afraid! I was just over 4 hours last year and was aiming at beating it this year. A complete lack of serious training especially at long distance on rough terrain brought me crashing to reality. I was on target at 20Km but the ascent of Swinner Gill just finished me (and lots of others alongside) right off. The final 3Km through riverside meadows has been described as the "Meadow Shuffle" and that just summed it up nicely as I was so, so glad to get to the finish and collapse.

To add extra agony that lovely 20 minute stroll from the car to the start now turned into a slow hobble of pain back again taking far, far longer!

I have limited experience of this type of event but to me it manages to encompass everything I look for. It is challenging, amazingly well organised, enthusiastically marshalled, the atmosphere is friendly and supportive especially when the going gets tough and, of course, it is through wonderful Yorkshire scenery!

I now have some 10 weeks to get myself better prepared for the DT40—I have only run this distance once before and that was a flat road race. We will see what happens!!

Kentmere Horseshoe Fell Race (from Steve Dixon)

Sunday 16 July - AM 12.3 miles 3,300ft of climb

Beautiful grassy ridge running on a beautiful sunny Lakeland day.

Winner Joshua Jardine of Helm Hill in 01.32.57
Ladies Winner 43rd Julie Briscoe of Dark Peak in 01.53.35
193rd Amanda Seims in 02.20.32
200th Eirik Stangnes in 02.21.04
222nd Steve Dixon in 02.24.58
344 finishers plus 2 DNF's

Point of note re cut offs. These are increasingly of concern to me, the older I get and the slower I get. They are there for our safety and for the safety of the marshals. I was 5 minutes inside the first cut off on Ill Bell!!! I reckon there must have been close to a hundred runners behind me that would not have made that cut off had it been enforced. It wasn't enforced and all the field were allowed to run through. Most of those eventually finished in respectable times under 3hrs 30mins. The remaining two finished safely but well after the time keeper had to go home in times close to 5 hours. One, I was told, was recovering from a recent hip replacement and the other was attempting his first AM Class fell race. I can understand why cut off rules are relaxed on a warm sunny day such as the one we had on Sunday but I felt it was a little bit unfair for race officials to then criticise (albeit in good humour) entrants for essentially 'walking' around the course. Just goes to show how very hard it is for race organisers to establish realistic cut offs and the dilemmas they have in enforcing them.

A further point of note, an embarrassing one for Amanda, was her getting lost on the final flagged part of the course and missing out on the opportunity to finish with a sub 2.15 time. A very fine run from Amanda up until that point. Eirik too had a good run in what was his first full-on Fell Race for quite a while in his build up to the Ultra Tour of Mont Blanc in August. Many thanks to former Strider Meg Galsworthy, always wanting to be different, running the course backwards to give great support to us.

5k at Leeds Triathlon Centre (from Bob Jackson)

Forty, no, nearer fifty, years ago I studied at Leeds University and spent my first two years in Bodington Hall https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bodington_Hall . My main sports were snooker (our building had one of the two full-sized snooker tables on site), table-tennis, table football, bridge and five-a-side football. Once a year we had a cross-country race from Bodington and along what I found out later was part of the Meanwood Trail. I maybe ran round the playing fields once or twice a year.

Much more recently I've been back a few times to run cross-country. The Yorkshire XC championship was there once and the West Yorkshire League and Peco League have held events there. I also once ran the Eccup 3 day event, a cross country at Bodington on a Friday evening, a 10k on Saturday morning and then the Eccup 10 on the Sunday morning. And Holly used to lead intermediates sessions there a few years ago.

Those cross country events used to take the same route, uphill from the sports pavilion to the edge of Otley Road, along there (always waterlogged) to near the new Weetwood Police Station, then a lot of downhill to the Ring Road, some ups and downs, and uphill back to the pavilion.

Demolition of Bodington Hall buildings started 4 years ago and it has been replaced by houses. There's also excavation work going on down by the Ring Road, so more of the old XC route is disappearing. With the creation of the Brownlee Triathlon Centre, the chances of running round Bodington fields seemed minimal.

But then I got an invitation from Mark Hetherington (Even Splits) to adjudicate for a 5k race on the tarmacked cycle circuit, to be the first of a series of 6 monthly races to the end of the year. I had to accept ... and run.

When I got there, what a change! I'm not sure whether the old building has been totally refurbished or knocked down and rebuilt on the same spot, but this is what it now looks like
http://valleystriders.org.uk/photos/brownlee-centre.jpg (pictures from the Brownlee Triathlon Centre website).

Inside, there was no expense spared for Alistair and Jonny to make their cups of Yorkshire tea
http://valleystriders.org.uk/photos/brownlee-centre-pavillion-2.jpg

I was worried about the hills, but the only hill was up to Otley Road, and that was much easier on tarmac than boggy fields. The rest of the route was flat
http://valleystriders.org.uk/photos/brownlee-cycle-track-aerial-view-1000x667.jpg

140 had entered and the format of the event was that there would be two races, the first for the slower runners (slower than 22:30) and the second for the faster.

There was a footbridge over the circuit and the finish was near the footbridge, Ken Kaiser had measured the circuit to be 1 mile and 3 yards, so we started approximately 150 yards before the finish, and would do this 150 yards followed by 3 full circuits.
http://valleystriders.org.uk/photos/brownlee-cycle-circuit.jpg

As we lined up to start, many of the runners in race 2 went up on the footbridge. We passed them 6 times and then finished there as well and we got lots of encouragement (and occasional "abuse"). As the race went on, more of the race 2 runners were on the footbridge. When race 2 was in progress, the footbridge was full of race 1 runners returning the compliments.

No prizes, just a Mars bar for every finisher, but could not expect more for £4 race fee (plus £3 series fee for the race number). See www.racebest.com for the dates of the other 5 races in the series.

Pos		Heat	AgeGrade	Chip	Gun
1	John Hobbs	A	86.4%	15:45	15:45
5	Andy Parker	A	78.5%	17:35	17:35
9	Paul Fotherby	A	78.3%	17:52	17:53
21	James Tarran	A	77.3%	19:02	19:04
27	Sean Fitzgerald	A	68.1%	19:32	19:35
52	Leroy Sutton	A	74.0%	21:31	21:35
63	Nick Smith	B	60.5%	22:10	22:11
75	Carole Schofield	B	74.3%	23:46	23:47
83	Bob Jackson	B	68.2%	24:36	24:38
90	Maureen Coffey	B	65.4%	31:22	31:24
93	finished

PS, I remember when we used to run cross country that there was a very boggy patch which would now be under the first bend. Either there was an underground spring or the water table was high, the effect was that you could stand on the grass and sink down a couple of inches without breaking the grass but the grass all around would go up an inch. I hope they fixed that when they built the track otherwise you'll see "diversion" signs in winter.

And from a road running race on a cycling circuit to a cycling race on a road circuit ...

VSCC 25M time trial (from Mike Furby)

On Saturday we held the 2nd edition of our open TT event. We had 100 riders enter and the balance was perfect with a good number of ladies, great number of really fast riders (including ladies!) and also a good number of beginners and a great level of representation from VSCC members too. Not only did we have all these riders but of course a large number of helpers too without whom the event could not have gone ahead.

The weather on the day was fantastic with those of us out on the course getting a bit of a tan. I had the pleasure of pushing off all the riders and seeing a lot of them cross the finish line and then get back to the HQ to dive into "those" cakes! The men's winner did it in an amazing 53:39 and the ladies winner in an equally amazing 1:00:47

Big thanks to: Alec "big bake off" Pearson, Sarah, Eli, Paul Sanderson, Hannah Stoneman, Bob Jackson, Rachel Meredith, Liz Ball, Danny Murray, Benjamin Hall, Marlous Hall, Michaela Laxton, Ged Coll, Phil Hurt and Steven Smith.

Great Riding by: Eleanor Stafford, Anna Hobbs, Chris Johnson, Chris Dooley D (shame about the punctures) , William Sims, Matt Hallam, Stuart Coupe, Joel Stead, David Morley and John Hallas.

There are photos which will be posted soon courtesy Halls Photography Solutions Worldwide dot awesome, plus some that were taken by a photographer

edit: Some new club records were set too. Anna Hobbs improved on her ladies record from last year by over half a minute. David Morley grabbed the V50 record and John Hallas set a new V60 record.

Bob says, I know there's no running in this event, but it did raise around £500 for Yorkshire Air Ambulance and did have some very good cakes, so I feel it is worthy of inclusion.