The 2022 Harriers race league was an enthralling 24-race rollercoaster of mayhem that kept me glued to my spreadsheet throughout the year. The end result was a very comprehensive win for Jeff Green, who also won the fell and trail categories, and was only denied a grand slam of the prizes by an unstoppable performance from Sally Armitage in the road race category. (All rules, results and standings are on our race league page.)

The race league got off to a winning start when Jack Cummings came first at the Stanbury Splash, bagging a ‘perfect’ score of 100 points. A valiant yet doomed effort from Jack who, because of the race league age / gender handicapping system, will surely never win the league until he’s about 60.

As if to illustrate the point, he was quickly unseated from top spot when Kate Archer and Dave Robson scored MORE than 100 points at Rombald’s Stride by virtue of superior age and – in Kate’s case – good old-fashioned being a lady.

We had another glut of Harriers out the following day at the Dewsbury 10k, led home by Nathan Edmondson in third place. To my ill concealed disappointment, no one doubled up in the two races.

At the Ilkley Moor Fell Race we had a new high score for the season as Tom Adams posted 103 points, winning the race overall. However, a quarter of the way through the season, Rachel Carter was the overall league leader after finishing first lady at the Dentdale 14.

1. Rachel Carter (383.85 points from 4 races)

2. Jeffrey Green (285.02 points from 3 races)

3. Nick Kealey (280.95 points from 3 races)

The only race we had in April was the Baildon Boundary Way, where we scooped several armfuls of prizes but after that, the fixtures calendar went a bit crazy because of rescheduling, cancellations, the monarchy etc. 

First up was the ever-popular Dick Hudson race across Ilkley Moor which was won by Tom – possibly in a new course record – but there weren’t any official finishing times because someone forgot to start the timer. 

This meant I had to trawl through Strava entries and then make up any times that were missing based on what seemed likely. Fortunately, I was house-bound with Covid at the time, so it’s not like I had a right lot else to do. 

We were then back on the Ilkley Moor five days later for the Jack Bloor race, where Jack Cummings managed to get himself lost while in the lead, but at least there was a competent timer. We saw a new high score for Emily Gibbins (103.16) who won the ladies race.

We then had the new addition of the Cookridge Community run, followed by THREE races in four days, thanks to the carnage wrought upon the late May Bank Holiday by the Royal Jubilee. The highlight was a nailbiting finish between Tom and Jack at the Ilkley Trail Race, which – in retrospect – was probably also the highlight of the year for the Royal Family.

At the halfway point of the year, it was clear that Jeff Green was playing for all the marbles, while a plucky new challenger had made his way onto the podium in the form of Pete Shelley.

1. Jeffrey Green (772.05 points from 8 races)

2. Nick Kealey (657.91 points from 7 races)

3. Peter Shelley (605.77 points from 7 races)

July saw our best-attended race as nearly 60 Harriers took part in the Ilkley Half. Then in August, we had a new high score as Ed Hobbs claimed 104 points with a third-place finish at the EvenSplits 5k. Red Ed went even better at the Ilkley Incline, winning the race overall and setting a new high score of 105 points.

As September drew to a close, Pete Shelley had edged into a narrow, very, very assailable lead in the overall standings ahead of Jeff, while Justin was also moving up the table into third.

1. Peter Shelley (808.01 points from 9 races)

2. Jeffrey Green (775.46 points from 8 races)

3. Justin Pierce (738.55 points from 8 races)

October was fairly uneventful (especially at my beloved Whixley 10k where we only got two Harriers out – didn’t even car share). But the first weekend of November was absolute glorious mayhem. 

First, Justin dethroned Pete at the top of the standings with his effort in the Burley Moor Run. No sooner had he lowered his backside into the hot seat, than it was booted out unceremoniously by Jeff, who’d scored a transfer place to the Guy Fawkes 10, which took place the following day.

As if that wasn’t excitement enough, we also saw a new high score at the Guy Fawkes 10: Sally Armitage won the women’s race and racked up a whopping 107 points. Sally, whose hobbies include running, sewed up the road race category with over 400 points from the minimum four races.

By contrast, Pete had by now run something like twice the distance from the Earth to the Sun and had nowt to show for it but a very precarious lead in the trail race category. 

Jeff had already secured the fell race category as well as the overall competition, but that didn’t stop him from ousting Pete in the final trail race of the season at the December PECO XC. To rub salt in the wound, Pete had even given him a lift to the race.

After this act of perfidy, the Ribble Valley 10k was a bit of a Tour de France-style victory lap for those who turned up, so I’ll conclude the roundup with some facts and figures:

1. Jeffrey Green (880.08 points from 9 races)

2. Justin Pierce (824.47 points from 9 races)

3. Peter Shelley (809.17 points from 9 races)

• To reiterate, Jeff Green was the overall winner, ahead of Justin Pierce and Pete Shelley. Congratulations to Jeff on a very well deserved win, and to Justin and Pete for pushing him (almost) to the end.
• Jeff also won the Fell and Trail categories. Sally Armitage was the outstanding winner of the Road category.
• 175 Harriers raced during the season.
• They ran 3,960 miles total, although Pete and Jeff probably account for more than half of that distance.
• We had 19 scores of 100 points or more, for race wins or otherwise outstandingly noteworthy age / gender-graded performances.
• We had seven and a half finishers at the Dentdale 14 (YOU KNOW WHO YOU ARE).
• Out of our 24-race season, TWO races took place during the whole entire time that Liz Truss was Prime Minister.

Thanks to all for taking part and especially those who provided feedback for this year’s league. Previous standings and this year’s schedule are available on our race league page.