IT has been a busy week for Ilkley’s runners, with Harriers taking part in a range of events across the UK.

And it started with a speed test on Wednesday at the Evensplits 5km at the Brownlee Centre near Leeds.

Seven Harriers were involved, Dominic Coy finishing second in a time of 16:09, chasing home winner Jonny Johnson. And the Coy family had a night to remember, Stephen Coy clocking 17:57 and Nathan Coy 18:05, both in the top 30.

Helen Thurston continued her superb form, improving her 5km personal best to 18:09 (the fastest by a Harrier over that distance for nearly five years) and topping the female standings in the process.

Mike Abrams-Cohen was another to set a new benchmark, dipping under 19 minutes for the first time in 18:58.

At the same venue, the inaugural Brownlee Centre Festival of Running was held on Sunday, featuring a range of five events from one mile to 20 miles all run around the one-mile cycle track.

And Geoffrey Howard, who has just turned 75, was third in the 5km - his time of 22:34 impressive by any standards and a new club record for the V75 age category.

Sticking with the 5,000m distance and Saturday evening saw Sally Armitage go sub-20 minutes with a 19:58 at the Podium 5km at Barrowford.

Run over five laps of a flat cycle track, the winning times in the ‘A’ race were eye-catching - the first male crossing the line in 14:42 and the first female finishing in 16:10.

Endurance - and hill climbing - were more to the fore in the Stan Bradshaw Pendle Round earlier the same day, with Jim Ryder and Adela Reperecki representing Ilkley.

A top quality field lined up for the 9.3 miles test from Barley (with 1,936 feet of elevation) and Ryder was 44th in 1:19:08, with Reperecki stopping the watch in 1:46:02.

Relatively nearby a day later was the Grim Up North-organised Settle Half Marathon.

It featured an out-and-back hilly course, and there were excellent performances from a couple of Harriers.

Daryl King went under the 1:40 mark as he made the top 30 (out of just under 200 finishers), while Jayne Norman beat her half marathon personal best by a full minute.

At the Cambridge Half Marathon, Steve Newell made the top 1,000 (from 8,357 finishers), with a time of 1:35:43.

A couple of 10km races also took place over the weekend - Jean Sullivan registering a fine 51:04 at the Ron Hill Accrington 10km while Sue Williamson battled wind and rain on the Menai suspension bridge start of the Anglesey 10km to clock an excellent 54:58, collecting fourth place in the F55 category.

On the Parkrun front, Alex Hirst (17:01) came within a fraction of a sub-17 time at Cardiff while Will Buckton made the top 10 at Skipton.