ILKLEY Harriers’ outstanding finish to the year continued last weekend as they recorded two memorable wins.

They came out on top in both the festive Gathering Winter Fools relay and The Stoop Fell Race, with Jack Wood instrumental in both successes.

Wood romped to victory in the latter on the moors above Haworth, with a time of 30 minutes and 27 seconds over the 4.9-mile loop, holding off defending British fell running champion Sam Tosh.

With Jack Cummings in fifth and Michael Lomas recording a personal best in 14th, the Harriers also bagged the men’s team prize.

Jack’s sister Helen Wood was the fourth lady home in 44th overall, with 12 Ilkley runners competing in the 206-strong field.

The Gathering Winter Fools relay was a memorable event for plenty of reasons, not least because the Harriers men’s team powered to an emphatic triumph.

It featured four legs of differing lengths, starting and finishing at various pubs around Keighley, Bingley, Silsden and the surrounding areas.

Competitors found themselves racing on one of the coldest days of the year but, wrapped up in all manner of fancy dress, that hurdle was negotiated with relative ease.

A strong men's team, ‘Ilkley Two Hats’, stormed to an impressive win by over 11 minutes.

Cummings and Istvan Jacso were fastest on leg one (nine miles) in an hour and one minute.

Wood and Will Simmons were quickest on leg two (9.5 miles; 1:02), with Paul Carman and Ian Gibbons second on leg three (six miles; 41 mins).

Michael Lomas and Dan McKeown rounded things off, coming second on leg four (seven miles; 47 mins) and taking the team home to victory on their first attempt in a total time of 3:32.

The mixed ‘Ilkley Tinsel Toes’ squad began with Helen Thurston and Peter Shelley, who got the Harriers off to a fantastic start as they completed the first leg in ninth place, in 1:10.

Steph Fox and James Brooks found themselves switched to leg two before realising it included the Silsden 'murder mile' but they took this tough test in their stride and finished in 1:48.

This gave Caroline and David Howe a minute’s advantage on the mass start for leg three. They then handed on to Petra Bijsterveld and Jacqui Weston, who ended up having the most challenging task of all.

The weather took a turn for the worse and freezing rain fell. The conditions were so treacherous, runners were having to crawl across roads on their hands and knees due to the ice.

Sticking with team events, the latest PECO Cross Country race saw Ilkley’s men finish seventh in their standings, Steven Gott led them home and Malcolm Pickering topped his M65 category.

But pride of place went to Pauline Munro in the women’s race. She sprinted to fourth out of 375 runners, Sarah Pickering (31st) and Ellie Kitchen (34th) rounded off an impressive all-round display for the Ilkley ladies.

Elsewhere, there were plenty of eye-catching parkrun results, Tim Ashelford claimed fourth at Castle Park in 18 minutes and 44 seconds, while Beth Massey was first lady at Bradford in 21:19.

There were personal bests aplenty at York, including Steve Murray in 19:12 and Rhys Jones with 19:29.

If any readers fancy a brisk walk on Boxing Day, they could cheer on the runners in the popular Chevin Chase above Otley.