From Alison Bennett…
A dozen Ilkley Harriers turned up at the Brownlee Centre near Leeds for this traffic free 5k held on a purpose built, tarmac, 1 mile circuit cycle track. The race has 2 start times or waves. The first wave is for those participants expecting to finish in over 20 minutes whilst the second wave is for the speedier athletes with a sub 20 minute goal.
After finishing and recovering from the first wave, it was exciting to be on the bridge overlooking the track to watch the second wave complete the 3 and a bit laps of the course. Michael Abrams-Cohen led the Ilkley Harriers for most of the race although he was overtaken for a while by Dave Foyston before regaining the lead and finishing 11th overall. There was also an exciting almost neck and neck finish between Danny Thompson and Kyle Bethell. For the ladies, Ruth Kitchen was the first female Ilkley Harrier across the line. Other Harriers who came 1st in their age groups were David Foyston MV45, Tracey Watson FV55, Alison Bennett FV60
These races are held over the season on the last Wednesday of the month. There are club team points to be claimed as well as individual placings so the more Ilkley Harriers that can be fielded, the better the chance of improving the scores against our competitors.
The race was won by Otley’s Edward Hobbs in 16:25