Harriers of the Month and Chair’s Blog – September 2025

The end of Summer (and the end of the HPH Summer League) but lots of bright spots in another fantastic month for Hyde Park Harriers! Firstly, congratulations to our…

HARRIERS OF THE MONTH – SEPTEMBER 2025

  • Ed Shakespeare (multiple nominations):
    • Ed represented the club at the PECO AGM in Otley on very short notice (literally a matter of hours!). Really appreciate him finding the time to make sure HPH had a voice in the room!
    • For running across the width of Wales!
    • Ed ran across Wales. ALL THE WAY ACROSS WALES. Madness.
  • Ilkley Incline Women’s team – Congratulations to the HPH women who won the team prize at the Ilkley Incline, with Amy, Daisy and Caite finishing 2nd, 3rd and 5th respectively!

Well done to all our nominees, copied below:

  • Ben Douglas – Some incredible runs from Ben this month, taking the win at both the Malham 10K and the Wetherby 10K!
  • Edward Hale – Congratulations to Ed for a fantastic run at Berlin, joining the sub-3 hour club and raising lots of money for Epilepsy Research!
  • Gordon Crawford – Congratulations to Gordon on his age category win at Kirkstall 7!
  • Mike Vargas – Kudos to Mike for his age category win at Kirkstall 7!
  • The HPH VoY volunteers – Massive thank you to everyone who volunteered at the Vale of York Half Marathon – it’s hugely appreciated as it fulfils the club’s commitments to our local running community. Special thanks to Grace R for co-ordinating the volunteer crew!

THANK YOU!

A huge thank you to all our leaders this month – Adam L, Alice H, Alice R, Ben H, Bethan M, Caitlin B, Cara G, Clare E, Coralie B, Daisy W, Dan S, Ed S, Eliza T-F, George A, Jonathan S, Kevin L, Lisa B, Lizzie L, Lorraine B, Lucy B, Lucy R, Naomi A, Richard C, Richard K, Steve P and Will D!

If you’d like to give leading a go, speak to any of our existing leaders or committee members and we’ll give you all the support and help you need.

HIGHLIGHTS OF SEPTEMBER 2025

  • A brutal hill, stunning views and lots of midges – it can only the Ilkley Incline! A dozen Harriers took on the one mile slog up to Ilkley Moor, with our women claiming first place in the team competition!
  • Lou G and Ben D represented the club at the Malham 10K, with Ben taking the win!
  • Kudos to Team Prust, who ran the Bury 10K!
  • Ed S completed a run all the away across Wales in under 12 hours – over 70K! Amazing work; hope the blisters heal soon…
  • A huge squad of Harriers headed to the Vale of York for the ever-popular Half Marathon and 10K; some cracking performances! Just as importantly, we also had nine volunteers who helped to make the race happen – thank you to all who gave their time to represent the club in this way!
  • We had two teams at the Leeds Country Way Relay Race – 24 Harriers in total, completing the orbital loop around the city. The weather was changeable, but everyone looks to have had a great time – nice once folks!
  • Vale of York and the LCW races were prioritised by a lot of the club, but we were still represented well at the Great North Run! Well done everyone who took part; some absolutely fantastic results!
  • Team Jones headed over to Ireland – Dingle Half Marathon cannot go ahead without HPH in attendance, after all! Nice work Chris and Liz!
  • HPH will be heading to Endure24 in July 2026 and Charlotte C is already putting in the prep for what will undoubtedly be an incredible solo attempt! She ran almost all the way from Leeds to Preston – 60km across the Pennines! Very impressive stuff!
  • Three Harriers took on the York 5K series this month – great work all, even if it was described as five laps of torture!
  • Wetherby 10K saw Adam L finish on the podium – great to see!
  • Ben D was on a hot streak this month, following up his victory at Malham with another first place at Pudsey! Well done to Kevin L who also braved the brute of a course!
  • Speaking of bravery, is there a scarier-sounding race than the Darkwood Demon? Not to worry, we had Alan and Helen ready to conquer the Colne Valley classic!
  • Further afield, Chris S represented the club at Mansfield 10K, finishing fourth in his age category – nice one Chris!
  • How fast can HPH run a marathon? Pretty dang fast it turns out! Thanks to everyone who came along to take part in the marathon relay in Woodhouse Moor – you can read loads more about it here.
  • We had a great turn out for the final race of the HPH Summer League – the Kirkstall 7! Always a great race and some fantastic performances, including age category wins for Mike and Gordon and Honor as third fastest woman!
  • The Summer League concluded with Clare E and Jonny S as champions – well done both! The Winter League starts in October and you can find details of all the races here!
  • Ed H joined the sub-three hour marathon club in Berlin, well done sir!
  • The fell championships continued with Rombalds Romp, with Adam L effectively sealing his victory in the men’s. The women’s league remains in contention – special mention to Jo R for finishing the race despite a twisted ankle!
  • An elite crew of Harriers headed to Poland for the half marathon and 5K in Gdansk. Always great to see HPH representing abroad – big thanks to Team Prust for organising!
  • Speaking of representing the club overseas, Pete N did the red-and-white proud with a cracking 30km run in Sweden!
  • Alice H added another patch to her collection of Lake District Valley Ultras, with the Two Valley edition this year!

Well done everyone and apologies as ever to anything I’ve missed! We’ve got lots of fun stuff coming up in October, including a tour of Light Night and the annual run to Saltaire – have a great month running folks!