ILKLEY Harriers were out in force at the half marathon and 10K events at Harewood House on Sunday.

Organised by the British Heart Foundation - and a key fundraiser for the charity - the routes take advantage of the paths, trails and tracks through the parkland on the Harewood estate, some of which are not usually accessible to the public.

The weather was kind and it meant that underfoot conditions were far better than they could have been, but still testing in parts.

A twisty and undulating course for the half marathon was tackled by 14 Harriers and they were led home by the in-form Kate Archer, who notched a superb time of one hour, 32 minutes and 37 seconds for the 13.1 miles, putting her in 33rd place out of over 1,000 finishers.

She was the third lady and also topped the F40 age category standings.

Colin Williams continued his excellent start to the defence of his Harriers league crown as he was next to cross the line, 52nd in 1:36:18 - and that was good enough for second place in the 50-60 bracket.

And there were plenty of event personal bests for other Ilkley runners.

Six Harriers contested the 10K, which set off an hour later, and Hilda Coulsey produced a fine performance to stop the clock in 55 minutes and 42 seconds, taking the first F60 in the process.

There were also plenty of eye-catching results at Parkruns on Saturday.

Istvan Jacso finished second at Fountains Abbey, Oscar Stapleton was third at Woodhouse Moor, and Helen Thurston and Sally Armitage were first and second ladies respectively at Harrogate, with Helen coming fourth overall.

Alex Hyde and Fiona Schneider are both reaping the rewards of RED (run every day) January with faster times, Alex dipping under the 25-minute mark at York - and then going well again in the Harewood Half Marathon the very next day. Fiona was 63rd at Skipton in a time of 26:14.

Geoff Howard was impressive as always, with a top-10 at Horton, and further afield Alex Hirst (17:20) and Rob Cunningham (18:52) continue to be very fast in their respective cities of Cardiff and London.

This Saturday the region hosts the National Cross Country Championships at Harewood House, with the fields sure to produce some spectacular racing.

It all gets under way at 11am, with the timetable building to the senior women’s race at 1.35pm, followed by the senior men at 3pm.