Just over 200 runners competed in the County Orienteering Championships last weekend which were held in the Yorkshire Wolds at Londesborough Park, near Market Weighton.

A mixture of steep-sided woodland and parkland made for very fast terrain except for the dense brashings and marshy areas in parts of the wood. The area is not highly technical and, although there were some route choices on the longer legs, runners knew that any navigational errors would prove costly.

In the Junior races, Airienteers were prominent in the results where eight of the successful youth squad became county champions.

One of the best runs of the day was by Ben Stevens (M18) of Ilkley, who averaged a little over six minutes per km in winning his 7.0km race in 43.47.

There were also fine runs by George Stevens (41.40) and Jack Wood (43.45) who came first and second respectively in the 6.0km under-16 race.

Other title winners were Daniel Calvert (M10), Robert Kelly (M12), Sam Brown (M14), Beth Woodley (W10), Chloe Haines (W14) and Victoria Stevens (W16).

At senior level, wins were not as common. Frank Kew, of Ilkley, won the 6.0km M55 race in 48.42, closely followed by veteran international Tony Thornley, also of Ilkley, who was second in 50.53.

Meanwhile, Tom Crowther (M65), of Guiseley, was second in his 4.9km race but becomes county champion because the winner was from Cleveland.

Other good runs were recorded by Steve Watkins (M35) who was second on the 9km course in 62.05, Maurice Calvert (M45), second in the 7km race in 49.05, Peter Jones (M45) fourth in 54.54, Dave Shelley (M50) who was third in his age-group in 54.36, and Michael Cox, fourth in 56.30.

Amongst the women Becky Carlyle (W21) had a fine run for second place in 55.09, as did Susan Stevens (W50), second in 54.21.

The next major event for Airienteers is the Jan Kjellstrom Festival of orienteering, one of the premier events in the calendar, which this year will be held in the Lake District over the Easter weekend.

At a more local level, Airienteers start a series of informal events on Wednesday evenings throughout the summer - an ideal time for those who want to have a go at orienteering. Details of all these events are on the club website at www.aire.org.uk.

Skyrac Fellrunners

THE Lad's Leap Fell Race from Crowden in the High Peak used to be one of the many low key fell races of the 500 races listed in the FRA Calendar and known only to the 13 people who turned up to run it in 2000.

Then in 2001, the year of the Foot and Mouth epidemic, it was the first fell race to be held in an area declared clear of F and M and it attracted a seven fold increase in runners to almost 100.

Needless to say Graham Breeze and Malcolm Coles were there from Skyrac.

This brought the race to the attention of the great and the good of the Fell Runners Association and in 2003 the race was a counter in the English Championship when it attracted 340 runners, including five from Skyrac.

Unfortunately the race's day in the sun was marred by the first two runners home taking a short cut towards the end which, because English Championship points were at stake, led to cries of cheating and eventual adjudication by the FRA.

Last Sunday things were back to normal with 87 runners turning up. Foot and Mouth and the English Championship were a distant memory. There were no allegations of cheating. Jonathan Ingram (Saddleworth) won in 47.15 and Graham Breeze and Malcolm Coles were present again to finish 43rd in 64.23 and 60th in 68.46 respectively.

Malcolm had run on the previous day along with others from Skyrac in the Meanwood Valley Trail Race won by erstwhile Skyrac member Gary Devine in 44.17.

Duncan Asquith, enjoying the fast terrain of Adel Woods and Meanwood Park, was 28th in 49:48 followed by 34th Jonathan Lester (50:21), 64th Bob Pritchard (53:56), 75th Damian Burrass (55:25) and Stephen Burrass, in his first race over this type of terrain, was 135th in 60:36.

Supervets Peter Rawnsley and Malcolm Coles were 113th and 116th respectively in 58:25 and 58:35.

Skyrac is based at Nunroyd Park on the Guiseley/Yeadon boundary. You can get in touch via 01943 874046, www.skyrac.org.uk or at the Guiseley Gallop on Easter Sunday.

Ilkley Harriers

A host of Ilkley Harriers ran in the Meanwood Valley Trail race over 7.5 miles on Saturday - the race a counter in the Harriers' Running League.

Great results included: first Vet 60 Geoff Howard; first Vet 50 Nick Pearce; sixth overall Graham Pearce; thirrd lady under 35 - Cath Wolfenden (and fifth lady overall); second LV35 - Jo Foster (sixth lady overall).

Full results are: 1, Gary Devine Pudsey & Bramley 44.17; 5, Jason Hemsley Pudsey & Bramley 45.54; 6, Graham Pearce 46.35; 9, Jim Ryder 47.29; 17, Andrew Wade 48.44; 26, Rob Reynolds-Jones 49.40; 27, Mark Iley 49.43; 29, Nick Pearce 49.50; 33,

Tim Ashelford 50.18; 41, Geoffrey Howard 50.52; 50, Jamie Hutchinson 52.15; 55, Iain Gibbons 52.39; 66, Ian Marshall 53.58; 67, Terry Lonergan 54.13; 74 Justin Oldham 55.23; 77, Peter Murray 55.44; 80, Cath Wolfenden 56.05; 82, Jo Ryder (Foster!) 56.11; 94, Heather Dawe 57.23; 109, Peter Sibley 58.10; 125, Norman Blackburn 59.21; 131, Iain Mann 60.05; 150, Vincent Gibbons 61.27; 181, Barbara Bullock 64.42; 184, Elizabeth McCann 64.51; 239, Bernadette Gibbons 69.40; 254, Helen Shew 71.58; 268, Jill Cooke 74.01; 279, Amanda Parnaby 76.31; 286, Rosalind Blackburn 78.55.

Meanwhile, Phil Chappell was the lone Ilkley Harrier in the Coniston 14 road race this year, 440th in 1h47:31

Ilkley Harriers is a friendly club, training from Ilkley Lawn Tennis and Squash Club every Tuesday at 7pm. See their web site www.ilkleyharriers.co.uk for more information.

Sportshall awards

A TOTAL of 82 children gained their Norwich Union Shine Awards at the Ilkley Sportshall Athletics presentation session at Clevedon House School.

Since September the children have been working towards the Agility Challenge Decathlon Award. Of the 82 medals and certificates presented one was for gold, two for silver and seven for bronze.

The remainder were blue, green, yellow and orange awards. The awards were presented by Kirstin Bailey, representing the John Taylor Foundation for Young Athletes.

Prizes for Ilkley sisters

Two young Ilkley Harriers were among the prize winners in junior races at The Meanwood Valley Trail on Saturday.

Ilkley's Mary Gibbons claimed first prize in the girls' 15-16 race and younger sister Catherine took second place in the girls' 13-14 event.

Recent rain made for difficult conditions as runners took to muddy paths and scrambled over slippery rocks and trailing tree roots. The course was partly on The Dales Way long distance footpath from Leeds to Bowness on Windermere.

Results: Mary Gibbons, first girl 15-16 years, 13min 38 sec; Catherine Gibbons, second girl 13-14 years, 14 min 53 sec; Patrick Gibbons, fourth boy 11-12 years, 14 min 12 sec; Eileen Gibbons third girl 9-10 years, 8 min 08 sec.