A record number of 36 Harriers competed in the latest HDSRL fixture at Richmond last week, several entering a race for the first time.  What a toughie to start!  A long walk uphill to the start gave a foretaste of things to come, and the race began with a long continuation uphill!  Some tarmac running and then a very steep, long, shaley descent followed, then some more undulating off-road, and a nice long downhill to the finish!  Steve Middleton, in great form just now, was first club finisher, 16th  in a time of 35.15, followed by Stephan Tomaszewski, 22nd in 35.46,  Walter Busuttil 25th in 36.13, Rob Burn 48th in 39.00,  Dan Holdsworth 64th in 40.37,  Graham Robinson 73rd in 40.58,  Matt Jones 91st in 42.12,  Martyn Coy, trying to get back after injury, 97th in 42.52,  David Shorrocks 99th in 43.13,  Bryan Miller 110th in 44.04,  Rob Lickley 120th in 44.30,  Nicola Booth 123rd in 44.34,  Hilary Coventry 133rd in 45.26,  Helen Ashworth 142nd in 46.07,  Geoff Bullock 150th in 46.27,  Pat Kirby 157th in 47.03,  Nicola Jenkins 158th in 47.08,  Rebecca Hartley 170th in 47.52,  David Fawkes 172nd in 48.01,  Carol Morrison 176th in 48.34,  Fiona Needham 181st in 49.00,  Fran Jeffery 183rd in 49.15,  Brian Smith, in a sprint finish with John Bishop, and both given the same time, 50.15, in 190th place, Faith Coy 214th in 53.27,  Christine Burn 215th in 53.31,  Claire Gillan 223rd in 54.48,  Clare Goacher 232nd in 57.49,  Andrea Almack, one of the first timers, 233rd in 57.59,  Cath Lumb 238th in 59.39,  Phillip Craig 239th in 61.02,  Julie Forster, another first timer, 240th in 61.53,  Sarah Goacher 241st in 61.54,  Ian Codling 244th in 66.45,  Marian Codling 245th in 68.35 and Bev Davies 246th in 69.07.
 
The previous night, (!!!), ten Harriers competed in the Ossy Oiks Fell Race, only marginally more difficult than the Richmond race, and another race with a long, steep descent, but it was once again a lovely evening for running.  Terrain varied from very hard to very boggy.  Hester Cox, was first club finisher,  coming 33rd out of 78 in a time of 51.50, with Lorraine Hiles 57th in 57.28, Nicola Booth 60th in 58.36,  Fran Jeffery 65th in 62.52,  Carol Morrison 69th in 65.08,  Alan Wikeley 70th in 65.30,  Pat Kirby 71st in 70.04,  David Read 74th in 73.00,  with Claire Gillan and Bryan Miller finishing together, 75th in 75.00.  The Ladies again walked away with the 1st Team prize, beating the 2nd place team by only one point.
  David Read had only a few days before completed a 670 mile cycle ride through Europe in a money raising challenge!
  Paul Atkinson was among the 98 finishers in the Mulgrave Castle 10k, finishing a very good 24th in 46.51.
  Ian and Marian Codling had an “away-day” to enter the Morecambe 10k, starting along the promenade and then out through Heysham and back on another lovely day.  Ian came 203rd in 67.15 and Marian 212th in 74.42, both feeling the effects of Richmond.
   At the far side of the world, John Yates took part in the Indonesia Volcano Challenge over 22 k with 2000 metres of climb.  The race took runners up via the crater rim with the air getting thicker, round on the shale, then an 800m drop before returning on very difficult terrain over rocks, tree roots and cobbles for the last 5k or so.  John was 7th V40 finisher in a time of 4h 35

Once again, the Ladies’ fell race team were in splendid form at the Levisham Limping Fell Race last week, on a beautiful evening for running and where sunburn was a more likely outcome than the usual wind or mud!  They had to make do with 2nd this time, having won last time out, but Lorraine Hiles, 27th in 63.22,  Hilary Coventry, 42nd in 71.59 and Fran Jeffery, 44th in 73.58, were very pleased with their prize.  Rob Burn also had an excellent run to come 9th in 55.51, with Hywel Smith 38th in 71.59 and Alan Wikeley 51st in 77.23.
  Two races have taken place which would previously have been in the Yorkshire Dales Series, but which is not being competed for this year.  The surprisingly testing Kirkby Malzeard 10k on Saturday, on a fine, warm afternoon, had 213 finishers, with Rob Lickley again doing well to come 59th in 45.04 with Steve Scott 117th in 50.36,  Alan Harman 132nd in 51.42,  Ian Codling 207th in 68.56 and Marian Codling 212th in 76.22.
  The week before, the more level Melmerby 10k had 156 finishers, Paul Atkinson leading club members home to come 23rd in a very good 41.04 – getting ever nearer that magical 40 minute mark for the distance,  Rob Lickley, another runner aiming for 40 minutes,  38th in 43.51,  Matt Jones 40th in 44.18,  Paul Goacher 68th in 47.52,  Ian Codling, in his third race in six days, 141st in 65.48,  Sarah Goacher 142nd in 66.10 and Marian Codling 152nd in 72.50.
  Pat Huck, meanwhile, was among the thousands who took part in the weekend’s Race for Life on York Knavesmire.  It was a fine morning, but Pat has had no real opportunity to train recently, and found herself doing a 10k distance, rather than the intended 5k, on the rough cross country terrain and did well to complete the course in a time of 75 minutes.