ILKLEY Harrier husband and wife David and Caroline Howe both produced superb runs to break the four-hour mark at last Sunday’s Paris Marathon, joining over 40,000 other runners in the French capital.
The race takes in all the main sights, with enthusiastic support along the way.
Starting and finishing on the Champs Elysees, with the Arc de Triomphe stunning against the morning's blue skies, it was a fantastic renewal of this iconic event but came just a day before the terrible fire which partially destroyed the cathedral of Notre-Dame.
David Howe, taking part for the sixth time, crossed the line in three hours and 49 minutes, with Caroline six minutes behind.
Something a little more ‘Yorkshire’ took place the same day, with the Flat Caps 10K at Sowerby Bridge.
The only flat parts of it were the caps that some of the runners wore, with the first five kilometres a continual climb before a mostly downhill second half.
Ilkley’s Colin Williams was an impressive 14th (out of 258 finishers) - and the first V50 - in a time of 45 minutes and 35 seconds.
The second Burnsall Half Marathon was another big success. A well organised and well-waymarked race in the Dales, over a figure-of-eight course featuring plenty of undulations.
Wharfedale’s Ted Mason was the winner, with Jayne Norman representing the Harriers to good effect with a time of two hours and 37 minutes.
An altogether flatter race was the Vale of York 10-mile, and that also featured an excellent Harrier display, this time from Beth Massey who was third (out of 119) in the LV45 category with a time of 1:09:55. That placed her in 118th overall out of 1,216.
Peter Shields picked up another first V70 prize with his performance at the 3 Bridges 10K in Lancaster, crossing the line in 48 minutes and 44 seconds.
The latest record-breaking run from Geoff Howard came earlier in the week at the York 5K Series.
He clocked 21 minutes and 13 seconds, in the process further improving the club’s all-time V75 mark for the distance.
Also in midweek was the second Bunny Run, near Haworth.
Ilkley won the ladies team prize for the second week in succession, thanks to Erin Doyle, Poppy Anderson and Anne Black - all the more impressive as the trio are juniors.
And combining running with swimming and cycling were Steve Coy and Val Kerr at the Skipton Triathlon.
A gusty day made for tough conditions, especially on the bike.
But they both made light of that - Coy taking eighth overall, while Kerr was third in the LV60 category.
RESULTS:
Paris Marathon, Sunday
(1 2:07:05 Abrha Milaw)
14,881 3:49:06 David Howe
17,835 3:55:00 Caroline Howe
42,195 finished
Flat Caps 10K, Sunday
(1 39:03 Joseph Crossfield, Halifax Harriers & AC)
14 45:35 Colin Williams
258 finished
Vale of York 10-mile, Sunday
(1 53:47 Steve Littler, Wesham Road Runners & AC)
118 1:09:55 Beth Massey, 3rd LV45
1,216 ran
3 Bridges 10K, Lancaster, Sunday
(1 33:47 Ross Campbell, Barrow In Furness Striders)
134 48:44 Peter Shields, 1st V70
386 ran
Skipton Triathlon, Sunday
(1 1:00:04 Carl Shaw)
8 1:08:47 Steve Coy
387 1:44:15 Val Kerr, 3rd LV60
Burnsall Half Marathon, Saturday
(1 1:27:20 Ted Mason, Wharfedale)
156 2:37:43 Jayne Norman
214 finished
Parkruns, Saturday
Bradford
(1 17:33 Martin Fillingham, Saltaire Striders)
47 23:42 Oscar Street
183 29:31 Paula Reynier
379 ran
Centre Vale
(1 18:52 Diarmuid Pritchard, U/A)
46 26:01 Will Worboys
147 ran
Cliffe Castle
(1 18:03 Rob Byers, U/A)
65 27:27 Fiona Schneider
183 ran
Myrtle
(1 17:41 Huseen Usuie, Bingley Harriers)
26 23:09 Geoff Howard
187 ran
Pontefract
(1 17:51 Michael Grain, Barnsley Harriers)
12 20:06 Colin Williams
367 ran
Portrush
(1 19:55 David O'Neill, Springwell RC)
89 27:29 Hilda Coulsey
232 ran
Rothwell
(1 16:31 Ben Butler, Wakefield District Harriers)
114 25:33 Petra Bijsterveld
388 ran
Skipton
(1 17:20 unknown)
99 27:53 Karen Lambe
219 ran
York 5K Series race 3, Thu 11 April
(1 15:45 Chris Smith, Leeds)
67 21:13 Geoff Howard
97 finished
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