JACK Wood smashed the course record when winning the Guy Fawkes 10-mile race for Ilkley Harriers at Ripley Castle on Sunday.

Wood led from the start and produced a particularly sensational time for his second five miles, to win by over four minutes on a hilly course. He finished in 55 minutes and 58 seconds, and was the only runner under an hour.

Pete Shields also had four minutes to spare over his nearest rival in the M70+ category, coming home 283rd out of 798 finishers.

Seven Harriers took part in what was a superbly organised event in a lovely setting.

It was a busy weekend all round, with no fewer than 15 Harriers in action at the 10-kilometre Abbey Dash in Leeds.

Nathan Edmondson took full advantage of a fast course in this popular event, clocking 32:40 for 111th place out of a massive field of over 8,000.

Cameron Reilly (33:31) wasn’t far behind in 157th, just ahead of Ian Fothergill (35:21).

Jemima Elgood was the first Harriers lady home, ahead of Sally Armitage and Caroline Howe, who both set 10k personal bests.

The latest West Yorkshire Cross Country event took place close to home at Nunroyd Park in Guiseley, with Ilkley backing up their strong display in the first race of the series.

The ladies were third overall, Pauline Munro leading the way in eighth, just in front of Kate Archer and Rachel Carter.

The men were the fifth team home, with no fewer than six in the top 50, headed by Dan McKeown, closely followed by Matthew Cox, Istvan Jacso, Steven Gott, Tim Ashelford and Stephen Coy.

The day also saw a superb run from Dominic Coy, who powered to victory in the under-17 event.

Ben Sheppard tackled his latest endurance challenge as he finished a fine fourth out of 92 finishers in ‘A Short Circuit’.

Anything but short, it is an ultra marathon of over 33 miles, with 4,000 feet of ascent on trails and moors around Otley and Ilkley.

Sheppard paced it perfectly, moving through the field in the latter stages to stop the clock in four hours, 56 minutes and 26 seconds, just over 10 minutes behind winner Alastair Murray.

It was busy on the Parkrun front too, especially at Bradford’s Lister Park, which counted as a league race for the Harriers.

Michael Lomas extended his consistently strong form by heading the Ilkley standings with his fourth successive fourth place in 19:05.

No fewer than five Harriers were in the top 15, including Mike Abrams-Cohen, who smashed the 20-minute barrier for the first time in style with a 19:42.

But the standout performance came from Hilda Coulsey, whose time of 26:20 saw her top the age-graded leaderboard with an incredible 78.16 per cent, first out of 342 runners.

Finally, Oscar Stapleton followed up his victory in the Lancaster Parkrun a week earlier by taking first place at Skipton in 17:34.