Club President Matt Podd kicked off a busy weekend for Otley AC, when he made the trip to Barley to take part in the Tour of Pendle Fell Race along with John Armitstead and Matt John.

This race is approximately 17 miles in length and has over 5,000ft of climbing and with muddy conditions underfoot and fog to contend with, this was a tough race.

First home for Otley wasJohn with Armitstead and Podd not too far behind.

Saturday was also the annual Harriers v Cyclists race in Bingley. The race goes through a couple of muddy farm fields, on to Shipley Glen, the summit of Baildon moor, a loop round the summit and back.

The winner overall (cyclist) was Rob Jebb, 35:43, followed by Andy Peace.The first harrier in third place was Andy Brown and first lady was Victoria Wilkinson 40:07, all from Bingley Harriers.

First home for Otley was Bob Addey sixth (38:33), followed by Sam Stell 11th (39:40). Also for Otley were Andrew Robertshaw (39:53), Andy Hunt (47:06) Laura Clark (49:47), Bob Baker (56:08), Caron Ralph (56:33), Lisa Maughan (1:03:19), Don Buffham (1:09:45) and Antonio Cardinale (1:24:18).

Richard Hamer was unable to complete the course on his mountain bike after a few falls caused bike and injury problems.

Sunday saw the annual running of the Age UK Leeds Abbey Dash. This is a popular event with over 12,000 people taking to the start line. Otley AC had an amazing turnout for this race, the near flat and easy all-road course is good for personal best times and is a good first step into racing for new runners

Near perfect conditions and hard work in training produced numerous personal bests for Otley AC members on the day and reward for all the hard work in training.

Taking to the start line in their first race were Lucy Mowat and Lisa Rigby. Both joined the club via its beginners group which meets on a Tuesday evening.

First home for Otley was Jamil Parapia in 95th (31:45). The winner was Andrew Butchart from Central AC (29:18) and first lady home was Steph Twell from Aldershot (32:28).

Also for Otley were Frank Beresford (32:44), Thomas Midgley in (34:20), Liam Dunne (34:36), Julian Mawson (35:30), Richard Smith (36:01), Graham Lake (37:03), Tom Potter (second claim) (37:20), Jonathan Greenwell (37:23), Howard Jeffrey (41:27), Stephen Boddy (43:35), Andrew Webster (44:47), Andrew Rayner (47:06), John Cowan (47:08), Nicola Lee (47:17), Sara Elliott (47:20), Nicholas Leathley (47:59), Melvin Hoare (49:31), Ann Yeadon (51:52), Charlotte Tomlinson (52:23) Tom Hannah (52:29) Laura Hind (52:58), Reid Haddow (54:13), Toni Midgley (57:05) Lucy Mowat (58:39) and Lisa Rigby (01:17:37).

Otley AC Juniors were also out in force at this year’s Junior 2K Dash. The junior runners were taking the opportunity to run at a big event in front of huge crowds and really enjoying the experience. The junior results are as follows: William O’Neill 13th (6:47), Jenson Brogden 25th (7:01), Holly Davey 39th (7:23), Morgan Bardgett 57th (7:59) and Ted Bardgett 127th (9:19).

Tamara Weatherhead and Mark Hall competed in the Preston 10-mile road race. Due to injury, this was Tamara’s first race for over a year.

The winner was Tom Charles from Trafford AC (52.14) and first lady, 42nd overall, was Hannah Oldroyd, UK Net Runner (1:02:28).

Mark Hall was first home for Otley in 18th. He was the second MV50 finisher in 58.34 and Tamara was fourth lady, 79th overall in 66:39 and was the first FV45 runner in 66:39. With this result, Tamara set new V35, V40 and V45 club records.