SEVERAL Ilkley Harriers were proud to represent Yorkshire at the Inter-Counties Cross Country Championships at Loughborough last weekend - and they travelled back home with a hugely impressive medal haul.

Tom Adams flew the flag in the senior race and - in what was a predictable mud-fest - he was 35th (out of nearly 300) and the third counter to help the White Rose county win an overall team silver, with only the North East ahead of them in the standings.

In the men's under-20 race, Dom Coy and Cameron Reilly were 16th and 37th, respectively, as Yorkshire landed the bronze medal.

Kent's Matthew Stonier was the winner in 31:37, with Coy less than a minute behind in 32:41.

A number of junior Ilkley Harriers had also been selected to run for Yorkshire and all came away with team medals in the testing conditions.

The under-13 boys team including Alexander Wolfenden, the under-13 girls team featuring Elizabeth Gibbins and the under-15 girls team with Emily Gibbins all took the silver medal positions to round off a successful cross country season for the Ilkley Juniors.

Moving up the age scale and Sunday saw the 42nd Yorkshire Veterans AA Cross Country Championship which was held in fine conditions at Longley Park in Sheffield, on a four-lap 10k course with a series of punishing hills.

A select three-man Harriers team were to the fore from the outset, with Steve Gott leading them home in eighth in the 60-man field, scooping himself the V40 silver medal.

Istvan Jacso was a couple of places back, bagging the V40 bronze, while Dan McKeown took 14th and that meant the trio were the overall winning men's V40 team.

There was further medal success that day for Ilkley - and this time on the European stage.

Harriers' runner Rhys Jones won the silver medal at the ETU Paraduathlon Championships at Punta Umbria in Spain as he came second in the PTVI (paratriathlon visual impairment category).

The race was over the sprint distance (first run of 4.8 km, bike 18.4 km, second run 2.8 km) and Jones and his guide Christian Brown excelled for Team GB.

Saturday's Punk Panther Welcome Ultra race took in Askwith, Ilkley and Burley Moors, the Chevin and much more and an Ilkley Harrier was the first man home in the 51km test, which featured over 1,300 metres of climbing.

That was Burley's Nick Kealey, in the leading bunch from the outset, who finished in four hours and 45 minutes.

That distance clearly wasn't long enough for Oli Street, who faced up to the 65km course and stopped the clock in not much over eight hours.

Other Harriers in race action around the country were Alison Weston, Will Worboys and Steve Newell, in contrasting events.

Weston tackled the short and sharp Black Combe Fell Race in the south-west corner of the lakes - eight miles, with 3,400 feet of elevation but minimal views up top owing to the misty weather. She was third LV50 in one hour and 51 minutes.

Worboys also had a huge climb to contend with at the Hot Toddy 10k road race near Todmorden before enjoying an extended downhill run to the finish as he came home 138th in 56:13.

And Newell took part in the far flatter Cambridge Half Marathon, crossing the line in 1:32:16 to make the top 1,000 (over 11,000 took part) and also the top 10 per cent of his MV50-54 age category.