Harriers of the Month and Chair’s Blog – September 2026

An incredibly busy month for HPH, with all sorts of races, achievements and challenges – read on below, but firstly congratulations to our…

HARRIERS OF THE MONTH – SEPTEMBER 2026

  • The HPH volunteers at the Vale of York Half – Edwina, Daniya, Yasmin, Tom, Clare, Phil and Daisy: I want to recognise my fellow volunteers who gave up their Sunday morning to provide marshals to the Vale of York Half – it’s really important that we give back to the running community, so thank you very much everyone!
  • The LCW in a Day Fab Three – Charlotte, Toby and Matt: I want to nominate all three for completing this difficult challenge, with fantastic results all around. They took the red and offset white around the city boundaries and made us very proud. It was a magnificent (and bonkers) effort from all three, who continued to support each other until the last man was in. Great team spirit, fantastic achievement for each one for different reasons. Go on, give them each an award, they deserve it.

Well done to all our nominees, copied below:

  • Adam Lomas, Ben Douglas and Mike Vargas: Well done to these three lads who did the club very proud in winning the team prize at the Kirkstall Abbey 7! Adam was second overall, Ben ran a very impressive sixth on his return to racing after several months of injury, and Mike won the V40 category! Kudos chaps!
  • Alison Hargreaves: Congratulations to Alison on a brilliant time of 1:42 at the GNR!
  • Cassia Keating and Charlotte Corner Fastest women’s pair on Leeds Country Way relay leg 3 – nice work both!
  • Charlotte Corner (multiple nominations):
    • Standard Charlotte, Turn up, Smile, Make it look effortless, Win! Unbelievable scenes from her at both LCW relay and solo!
    • Fastest runner to complete the LCW circuit on record, very noteworthy!!
    • A genuinely mind-boggling run at LCW in a Day. Winning by more than an hour and setting a new record for the route; absolutely stunning achievement!
    • For setting an FKT (Pending) despite having no idea what an FKT is!
    • Leeds country way FKT, amazing well done Charlotte 
  • Chloe Brooks (multiple nominations):
    • A phenomenal effort at the Tor des Geants – it may not have been Chloe’s year this time, but completing over two-thirds of the course is still an absolutely unbelievable effort.
    • For just attempting the 330km, 24000m Tor des Geants.
  • Clare Evans: Clare’s worked really hard and consistently on her half marathon training block, despite a couple of injury scares – it was great to see it pay off with a great run at the Morecambe Half!
  • Daniel Richardson: A cracking sub90 run at Great North Run – brilliant to see!
  • Doug Blackwood: A brilliant debut Ilkley Incline, finishing third!
  • Gordon Crawford (multiple nominations):
    • Another inspirational run from Gordon, breaking his own VM70 club record at the Golden Mile!
    • A cracking sub1:50 half marathon at Vale of York to clinch the M70 YVAA half marathon championship for a second time!
  • Jonny Spain: Congratulations to Jonny on a sub-three hour marathon at Berlin (and becoming a new dad)!
  • Matt Barton (multiple nominations):
    • Getting 100km ticked off, despite an ankle injury and a tough race day. Well done!
    • Matt showed true grit in completing the LCW in a Day – to finish the 100km with an ankle that was not 100% was an incredible show of fortitude!
    • He may not have been the fastest Harrier but He smashed the Leeds Country Way (In a day) the hard way.
    • An amazing achievement for Leeds Country Way in a day and having done it Matt wasn’t put off the massive distance, already signing up for next year. Well done Matt
  • Naomi Adkins: Yep, I’m nominating my wife – not sorry. There’s not a chance I’d have finished the LCW in a Day without Naomi meeting me at every single checkpoint and making sure I was drinking, eating and vaguely compos mentis. She’s the best crew any HPH could ask for.
  • Nichola Moreland: Nichola did brilliantly at the Lady Bower Reservoir Ultra
  • Pip Piperdy: Pip absolutely smashed the Kirkstall 7 – running comfortably under an hour and winning the coveted “fastest runner from LS5” trophy! Even more impressive when you remember she ran a massive 20 mile route as part of her marathon training block just a couple of days earlier!
  • Your not-so-humble chair was very grateful to receive the following nominations:
    • Great work at both LCW relay and solo! Strong performance solo, coming 3rd, despite having a difficult day. Then getting up volunteering the next day?? Simply a fabulous human!!
    • I picked chairs for performance but really this covers club contribution too. Toby did amazing at Leeds Country Way in a day and then managed to go volunteer at VOY. Races cant go ahead without volunteers well done for a very busy running related weekend Toby.
    • Just keeps running really really far.

THANK YOU!

A huge thank you to all our leaders this month – Adam L, Alex H, Alice H, Andy B, Bethan M, Caite B, Chris H, Chris W, Clare E, Curtis B, Daisy W, George A, Hannah L, Helen N, Jenny C, Karley H, Laura G, Lizzie L, Lucy B, Lucy R, Megan F, Mike G, Naomi A, Olly H, Richard C, Richard K, Sarah U, Sharron N and Tom W!

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 2026

  • As part of our 20th anniversary celebrations, we’re undertaking a club-wide year long relay! As of the end of this month, the baton has travelled 3,345km! During September, the baton was carried by Ed S, Grace R, Paul C, Jonathan C, Clare E, Paul S, Richard C, Reuben K, George A, Cassia K, Charlotte C, Sam T, Richard K, Mike V, Richard G, Jon C, Rob B, Pip, Amy R-Y, Chris W, Kelvin C, Kay J and your humble chair! If you’d like to get involved, there’s a specific chat in the club’s WhatsApp community to co-ordinate handovers.
  • The penultimate YVAA Grand Prix race saw four veteran Harriers take on the Northowram course – nice work gang!
  • Ilkley Incline – know it, dread it, run it anyway! Ten Harriers took on the mile-long climb, with added rain this year! Congratulations to Amy, who was second woman, and Doug, who was third overall!
  • The annual HPH pilgrimage to Dingle saw several Harriers taking on the marathon and half courses – it sounds like everyone had a great time, and very much enjoyed the post-race sandwiches!
  • Adam ran up to the top of the UK’s highest mountain, then back down again, in just a smidge over two hours… Well done on another cracking Ben Nevis race Mr Lomas!
  • Kudos to Joe H, who ran the Wetherby 10K!
  • We had two teams racing the Leeds Country Way relay – great to see a mix of HPH veterans and LCW newbies taking part! We had a team in the top 10, and several of our pairs ran incredible times (special mention to Cass and Charlotte, who were the fastest women on Leg 3, and Reuben and George, who were second fastest overall on Leg 2!). Everyone earned their LCW hats, and I for one am very much looking forward to next year’s event!
  • Three intrepid Harriers took on the bonkers challenge that was “Leeds Country Way in a Day” – a full circuit of the orbital footpath, totalling over 100km! Charlotte C absolutely smashed it – finishing first by over an hour and setting a new fastest known time for the route of nine hours and fifty minutes! Kudos to her and Matt B – your humble chair also made it round, just about in one piece…
  • The Vale of York Half is a target race for many Harriers – fast, flat and a great opportunity for personal bests! A dozen Harriers took part this year, with some excellent runs! A special mention to my team of fellow HPH volunteers (Daniyah, Yasmin, Clare, Phil, Tom, Edwina and Daisy, pictured at the end of this blog) who gave up their mornings to marshal – thank you very much all!
  • It’s a race on many a runner’s bucket list, and the Great North Run rarely disappoints! Congratulations to all the Harriers who part in this year’s edition!
  • Demon by name, demon by nature! The Darkwood Demon saw five Harriers run a spooky 6.66 miles over tricky terrain – nice work everyone!
  • Lee T undertook his annual pilgrimage to Oslo and ran the 10K in sub40 – kudos Lee!
  • Chloe B took on the Tor des Geants in the Aosta Valley and made it round 237km (with over 18,000m of elevation) before calling it – bearing in mind the full loop is a staggering 337km with over 26,000m of elevation, Chloe’s effort was still absolutely unbelievable.
  • Phil H completed his 304th marathon, this time on the canal with It’s Grim Up North!
  • Paul S and Raymond H represented HPH at the inaugural Castleford 10K – nice one!
  • Clare E braved the headwinds of the Morecambe Half, running a fantastic 1:40 – great to see her hard work and training paying off!
  • The final race of the HPH Summer League saw a dozen Harriers descend on Kirkstall Abbey for the classic seven mile race! We came away with some cracking results, including the men’s team prize, and Pip getting the trophy for the fastest runner from the LS5 postcode!
  • Eight Harriers enjoyed a beautifully sunny autumnal day on Ilkley Moor at the Rombald’s Romp, with Adam L finishing in second place and earning prizes including chocolate, mince pies and croutons!
  • Great to see Nichola M run a fantastic 50km (and more!) at the Lady Bower Reservoir Ultra!
  • Knaresborough Crag Rat Race saw Mike V finish 7th – a cracking local race, definitely one to check out next year!
  • Beccy N and Paul R raced the Sheffield 10K – much like the Sheffield Half, it’s a spicy route with a killer hill, nice work both!
  • Loch Ness saw one of HPH’s endurance monsters take on the scenic marathon route – kudos to Chris W!
  • Jonny S ran a sub3 marathon at Berlin – impressive enough in itself, but even more so given he recently became a father (congratulations to Jonny and Helen)!

What a month and, as ever, apologies to anyone I’ve overlooked! Already looking forward to October – we’ll be heading to Amsterdam for our club trip, Saltaire for our annual autumnal run and around the sights of Light Night!