The Ripon 10 provided the latest challenge in the Club Championship series, with 16 Harriers taking part out of the 285 finishers.  The morning was perfect for running, and, after torrential rain the previous day, conditions underfoot were mostly good as well, but the hills seemed just as hard!  
Steve Middleton was first club finisher, 10th in a time of 63.56, with Stephan Tomaszewski 19th in 67.13,  Paul Atkinson 36th in 71.17,  Rob Burn 40th in 72.13,  Matt Jones 62nd in 75.34,  Brett Edgeworth 65th in 76.03,  Rob Lickley 72nd in 77.10,  Graham Robinson 92nd in 80.11,  Nicola Booth 113th in 81.53,  Alan Harman 150th in 85.55,  Paul Goacher 177th in 88.43,  Carol Morrison 208th in 93.44,  Christine Burn 249th in 103.02,  Ian Codling 282nd in 120.03 and Marian Codling 283rd in 137.33.

  A few days earlier, in a window of opportunity between spells of heavy rain, ten Harriers were involved in the Carlton Challenge, race 2 of the summer series of fell races.  Hester Cox, in fine form just now, came 38th out of 100 finishers in a time of 46.26,  Ruth Caton 40th in 48.07,  Nicola Booth 73rd in 53.53, Fran Jeffery 85th in 57.22,   Nicola Jenkins 86th in 57.32,  Alan Wikeley 91st in 61.54,  Carol Morrison 92nd in 62.10.  Pat Kirby 93rd in 62.37,  witn Bryan Miller and Claire Gillan finishing together on 69.40.  Hester Cox, Ruth Caton, Nicola Booth and Pat Kirby all got prizes for coming 2nd in their age-groups, and Hester, Ruth and Nicola (Booth) collectively won the ladies’ Team Prize.  Well done to them!

  Hester Cox likes a challenge, and entered the recent Three Peaks Race covering more than 26 miles.  She was keen to try to beat her previous best time and set off hard from Horton up Pen y Ghent.  It was hard going towards Ribblehead with a strong headwind, and snow and hail at times.  Conditions underfoot were variable and at one point, Hester had a 10 foot slide in the mud, managing to escape injury.  She got cramp on Whernside and couldn’t eat so energy levels were dropping, and it was hard going up Ingleborough.  She fell again on the way back to Horton but managed to complete the course in 4.53.29, five minutes slower than last time, but a wonderful effort all the same.

A busy weekend saw Harriers at several races.  The popular Kirbymoorside 10k tests at the start with a long uphill climb but then rewards at the end with a long downhill!   Its Brass Band, sideshows and huge town support make it a very enjoyable experience for runners, and there was a field of  433 this year, with Paul Atkinson, refreshed after his London Marathon, 59th in 42.36, Paul Gaucher 200th in 50.06,  Helen Goacher 294th in 54.53,  Ian Codling 427th in 71.18 and Marian Codling 431st in 76.27.
  The following day, Bank Holiday Monday, was almost perfect for the 436 entrants in the Tees Barrage 10k, a scenic race closely following the Tees, and the steadily improving Bryan Miller finished 132nd in 46.55 an improvement of almost 10 minutes in time since he started with the club last year!  John Bishop came next, 190th in 50.31,  Brian Smith 238th in 52.50,  Stuart Waters 263rd in 54.05,  Faith Coy 292nd in 55.22,  Clare Gillan 313th in 56.56,  Ian Codling 423rd in 71.58 and Marian Codling 428th in 75.15.
The club welcomes runners of all abilities and full details can be found on the website.