Running Log

Jo Buckley, Yared Hagos and Peter Hopson performed outstandingly in the annual Great North Run.

Bingley Harrier Buckley, who was recently sixth in an international mountain-running championship, finished 16th in the ladies’ elite race (tenth Briton) with a time of 80min 44sec.

Hagos, a refugee from Ethiopia, lived in Bradford until recently and was helped through his asylum application by Bradford-Airedale AC.

Having gained his UK residency, he was relocated to the north-east where he now runs for Wallsend Harriers. He finished 12th in the senior race in 63:37, just outside his personal best.

Hopson is from Guiseley and finished 149th among the men (80:01). The unattached runner made his breakthrough in this year’s Bradford 10K and smashed his previous half-marathon best (set in the Leeds Half in May) by over four minutes.

Hopson has raced over three distances in the last fortnight. First it was the Golden Mile at the Leeds Carnegie track, running 4:44.9. The following day he had a less successful Wetherby 10K outing, in which his fueling went wrong preparing for an afternoon race.

T&A reporter and Saltaire Strider James Rush also made an impressive debut in a major race, completing the Great North Run in 86:32.

Hundreds of other Bradford runners were part of almost 40,000 on the Newcastle to South Shields course.

Many were running for charity – including the Steele family, members of Eccleshill Road Runners. Julie and Martin ran together in 2hr 10min, while youngsters Marc and Craig clocked 1:51. They raised substantial funds for Scope in their seventh running of the race.

Meanwhile, Hopson has been training with the Bradford Adult Running Programme.

The Monday sessions, led by former Olympic sprinter Ilona Melounova, at Bradford Grammar School focus on circuit training and aerobics to build core strength.

Wednesday track sessions at University Academy Keighley are led by expert marathon and paralympics coach Brian Scobie. These comprise drills and intervals to build speed and endurance.

A total of 20 runners of all abilities are part of this programme. Free taster sessions are available on September 24 and 26 (see www.sportsshare.org/training/notices/aet-sessions/).