THE Chevin Chase proved to be another big attraction on Boxing Day with 996 runners competing the challenging seven-mile route.

With triathlon stars Alastair Brownlee and Jonny Brownlee not competing, it was an opportunity for a new name to appear on the race's honours board.

Central AC runner Chris Smithard from Sheffield seized the moment to take victory in a time of 38mins 43sec.

He finished 49 seconds ahead of Joe Baxter (Pudsey & Bramley) with Bingley Harriers runner Matthew Merrick completing the top three.

The best local runner was Jack Wood of Ilkley Harriers. He was fourth in 41:28 after another good run over a course made muddy after overnight rain and team-mate Nathan Richardson took eighth place with a time of 42:19.

Otley's Tom Midgley ran well to take 13th place in 43:55, while Martin Archer of Ilkley Harriers came 20th in 44:31with team-mates Ben Stevens (44:50) and Steven Gott (45:19) 23rd and 25th respectively.

Neil Edmondson of Horsforth was 26th in 45:23 and Otley's Gary Johnson came 27th in 45:41.

The best finisher for host club Airecentre Pacers was Will Morris in 28th with a time of 45:51.

Tim Ashelford of Ilkley Harriers clocked 46:04 for 31st place and the first Skyrac finisher was Chris Dove in 36th place with a time of 46:23.

The first lady finisher was Sharon Barlow in 41st place with a time of 46:39. Pauline Munroe was Ilkley Harrier’s first female and third lady overall in 96th place.

Once again the race was a triumph for Airecentre Pacers. Their organisation and management of the event drew rich praise from many of the runners on social media.

This year many of the athletes donned seasonal fancy dress to bring added colour to the wonderful Christmas event.fixture on

Ilkley Harriers finishers: 4 Jack Wood 41:28, 8 Nathan Edmondson 42:19, 20 Martin Archer 44:31, 23 Ben Stevens 44:50, 25 Steven Gott 45:19, 31 Tim Ashelford 46:04, 55 Dan Hayes 47:25, 60 David Foyston 47:38, 76 Adam Bennett 48:56, 84 Steve Turland 49:16, 86 Rob Cunningham 49:20. 96 Pauline Munro 49:54, 123 Jonathan Sinclair 51:06, 139 Kate Archer 51:43, 154 John Hayes 52:15, 160 Stephen Coy 52:29, 183 Derek Oliver 53:19, 186 Michael Duffield 53:22, 193 Ellie Kitchen 53:34, 221 Helen Thurston 55:04, 269 Tim Brayshaw 56:25, 310 Andrew Jackson 57:45, 329 Alistair McInnes 58:25, 349 Tom Worboys 59:02, 358 David Schneider 59:13, 413 Robert Budding 60:49, 419 Geoffrey White 61:13, 423 Helen Wood 61:17, 429 Paul Stephens 61:33, 431 Adela Reperecki 61:38, 450 Robert Meadows 62:02, 523 Claire McLoughlin 63:09, 524 Mike Baldwin 63:36, 573 Jane Bryant 64:57, 594 Alison Bennett 65:56, 606 Sharon Meadows 66:31, 663 Petra Bijsterveld 68:23, 701 Mike Bryant 69:25, 737 Chris Cunningham 70:32, 759 Jonathan Schneider 71:20, 771 Debbie Jukes 71:48, 790 Sheena Pickersgill 72:45, 873 Fiona Schneider 77:18, 904 Wendy Bishop 79:42, 908 Sal Wright 79:53.

The 5k Parkruns were well attended last weekend and were held on both t Saturday and Christmas Day.

Matt Newall won the Saturday Skipton Parkrun with a time of 17:17

Christmas Day

Bradford: 87 Petra Bijsterveld 26:16.

Harrogate: 181 Geoff Howard 26:39.

Skipton: 2 Dominic Coy 17:10, 5 Ruaridh Mon-Williams 18:15, 10 Rob Cunningham ,19:48,11 Mark Mon-Williams 20:07, 14 Stephen Coy 20:35, 45 Tom Worboys 22:41, 47 Ben Joynson 22:48, 54 Rebecca Mon-Williams 23:30, 56 Neil Pomfret 23:33, 90 Chris Cunningham 26:03.

December 23

Woodhouse Moor: 32 Adrian Bastow 20:59.

York: 43 Jonathan Turner 19:57.

Bradford: 1 Reuben Mantle (Bingley 17:00), 7 Alex Hirst 19:05, 62 Oscar Street 23:42, 68 Phil Hirst 23:59.

Roundhay: 48 Tom Worboys 22:44, 71 Ben Joynson 23:50.

Skipton:1 Matt Newell 17:17, 45 Neil Pomfret 23:47, 112 Sue Verspyck 28:43.