ANOTHER weekend meant another storm, this time in the guise of Jorge, and whilst he may have lacked the clout of Ciara and Dennis on the wind front, he certainly made up for it with rainfall.

The Ilkley Moor fell runners are hardy types and undeterred, the senior race, which is organised each year by Ilkley Harriers, went ahead as scheduled on Sunday (the junior race fared less well, having already been cancelled).

Statistically, it was the wettest February since records began so the going was always set to be heavy.

Robin Howie of Wharfedale Harriers proved quickest in the mud fest and crossed the line in 40.51. Ilkley’s Jack Cummings claimed second spot in 42.17 whilst Nathan Edmondson was fifth and Oli Murphy finished in eighth, enabling Ilkley Harriers to take the men’s team prize.

Hats off to the well organised and enthusiastic marshals along the route who also had to endure Jorge’s wind and rain for a couple of hours.

A little further north in the Lake District, Ilkley’s Tom Adams was third in a top-class field at the Loopy Latrigg race on Saturday.

Dan Haworth of Matlock won the race, with 2019 Three Peaks hero Brennan Townshend in second. Last in a series of five, this fell race heads through remote forest up to near the summit of Latrigg with a speedy descent before climbing again to reach the top and then descending for a second time.

In Lancashire, Harriers ladies Jemima Elgood and Sally Armitage were in action at the Trafford 10k.

A fast, flat race held on closed roads, this event attracts some of the UK’s top athletes - Jessica Judd and Eilish McColgan were first and second in sub 32:30 times.

Elgood finish ninth lady in 35.27, beating her own all-time club record for 10k by six seconds, which was even more outstanding considering the windy conditions. Armitage also impressed with her time of 39.45.

Meanwhile, a trio of Harriers travelled to Anglesey for the Half Marathon and 10k, with Lucy Williamson producing an outstanding display to finish first female in the former event with a time of 1:32:56 as nearly 1,200 runners took part.

It was all the more noteworthy as the route twice had to be changed on account of the strong winds.

In the 10k, Sue Williamson and Kate Lofthouse both crossed the line in just over an hour.

Dropping down to 5k and the latest Leeds Evensplits races took place at the Brownlee Centre last Wednesday. The cold temperatures made for speedy times as Ilkley Harrier Dave Foyston, claimed a personal best finishing 11th in 17.29, while David Westhead was first MV50 in 18.19.

The ever-impressive Hilda Coulsey was first FV65 in 24.08 as she improved her own club record and Nicola Budding claimed the first FV50 in 24.17.

Sadly, the final PECO XC fixture at Roundhay fell victim to the weather. An accumulation of winter storms on an already churned up turf following an Ed Sheeran concert meant the ground was waterlogged.

A couple of prizes were confirmed though, Ilkley’s Nathan Edmondson was crowned league champion with a perfect record of three wins from three. There was no rest for him, however, as he took part in the aforementioned Ilkley Fell Race.

And the Ilkley men’s team won first place in their section and promotion to the league’s second division.

The ladies team finished fifth overall in the second division, spearheaded by Alison Bennett who was 72nd out of 592 competitors, along with Diane Kitchen who was 103rd and second F60.

Despite the cancellations of both the final Peco XC and the Junior Ilkley Fell Race, the junior Ilkley Harriers still recorded some great results.

In the final positions of the PECO league, Iris Smith and Amelia Nichols were second and third in the girls years 2-4 category and Archie Budding picked up second place in the boys years 7-8.

Three juniors took part in the first Even Splits 5k race, with all three - Alexander Wolfenden (18.29), Archie Budding (19.05) and Harry Stead (19.21) - crossing the line in under 20 minutes, resulting in a 1-2-3 for the male junior category.

Finally, six junior Harriers represented West Yorkshire in the Sportshall Athletics regional finals held in Halifax. The under-13 boys’ team, including junior Harriers Sam Bentham, Archie Budding, Samesh Choitai and Sam Dixon, won and will go on to represent Yorkshire at the National Finals in April. The under-13 girls (including Farrah Kennedy-Harting) narrowly missed out, coming second to North Yorkshire and Annabel Peyt was third in the under-15 girls.