From Peter Shelley and Nicola Budding…
Photo credits: Fabio Vedovatti, Dan Patterson, Tony Pye.
Jack Cummings’ international mountain running debut and European successes for Ilkley Harriers
With Trofeo Vanoni in Italy and the European marathon season in full swing, Harriers were in action in six different countries across the continent over the weekend.
Jack Cummings stepped onto the international stage on Sunday running for one of two England teams in the Trofeo Vanoni. Staged in Morbegno, a town in Valtellina in the Italian Alps, the event has staged mountain relays for over 70 years. Having prepared extensively for the race over recent months, Jack ran leg one of three on a route that took him from Morbegno’s cobbled streets onto the steep trails and woods of Arzo climbing and descending 466m including technical sections and a wall jump in just 7km. Completing in 34 mins to handover for leg two, Jack set his team up for an excellent 1:39:39 and 14th place of 109 teams. England’s other team did even better finishing 5th whilst victory went to Wales amidst strong competition from Italy and France.
Marathon Eryri took place on Saturday on a spectacular road route starting in Llanberis and circumnavigating Wales’s tallest mountain in a clockwise circuit with 838m of climb. If this were not enough of a challenge over the 42km distance, runners’ endurance was further tested by rain, hail and wind. Ultra specialist Petra Bijsterveld rose to the occasion to finish in 4:42:31, placing 1092nd of 2,208 and ninth F60 of 50 followed by Sarah Hayes in 4:56:19, placing 1271st and 25th F55 of 95.
2,000km south of Eryri conditions were altogether better for the Lisbon Marathon. Running the flat scenic route along the coast between the Portuguese capital and Cascais, Lucy Lowe ran 4:37:25 to place 6,634th of 9,190 finishers.
On the other side of the Iberian peninsula Valencia staged its half marathon with a field of 26,077 athletes. The Coys added to their extensive family sporting record, Stephen Coy finishing in 1:26:08 and 2,116th place and Gaenor Coy in 2:04:37 and 18,550th place.
Conditions were favourable further east for the Venice Marathon on Sunday. Sun, low wind and a flat course combined with the aesthetic inspiration of Italy’s historic lagoon city to speed Dan Paterson to the finish in a personal best 3:32:12. Sarah Marsden followed in 3:44:15, her fastest marathon for seven years. Dan placed 669th and Sarah 954th respectively in a field of 2,945 runners.
Sunday also saw the historic streets and green suburbs of Éire’s capital come alive for the Dublin Marathon. Adding to his 2025 marathon successes in Manchester and Leeds, Tony Pye ran an excellent 3:18:00 to finish 2,491/18,695, 170th M50 of 1,311.
An altogether different kind of marathon took place in the Lake District over Saturday and Sunday. The OMM (Original Mountain Marathon) challenges participants to run and navigate in pairs in search of controls which are distributed across the fells and carry points values. Harrier John Hayes and his partner Martyn Pegg covered 47km and over 4,000m of elevation on difficult terrain from race HQ in Shap across the two days, including a night under canvas in very low temperatures. They placed a commendable 16th out of 232 in the Medium Score (and 6th vets pair).
The October edition of the Leeds 5k series took place mid-week. The flat cycle course at the Brownlee Centre produced some rapid running times. The 120 competitors included Edwyn Oliver-Evans who finished 12th in 17:25, Harry Brook-Dobson 15th in 17:49, Kyle Bethell 31st in 18:56, Harry Sime 47th in 19:33 and 1st MV60, Emma Sheppard 66th in 21:06 and 1st FV45, Claire Mcloughlin 77th in 21:47, Ellie Middlemass 87th in 22:30 and Georgina Hamill 94th in 22:57.
It was a busy Saturday at the parkruns. East Holmes Field attracted 17 Harriers including James Horrex who completed the course in first place in 18:50 with Daniel McKeown 3rd in 19:42. Personal bests were posted by Martin Campbell, Hannah Osieku, Phil Chappell, Chris Cunningham and Sue Williamson. Diane Kitchen and Geoff Howard led the Harriers’ age gradings.
Nick Kealey ran a swift 19:53 into second place on the Chevin’s hilly parkrun. Nick topped the age gradings followed by Fiona Schneider. Top of the JM11–14 age category was Michael Moore with an impressive 22:57. At Lister Park Mark Hall ran 19:19 to top the age gradings while Milena Moore crossed the line 5th female in 23:00.
Further afield, Samesh Chotai ran 16:40 to 2nd place in Coventry, an impressive time and achievement among 794 participants. Alex Foyn ran a strong 17:55 to 1st place in Malmö, Sweden.