Otley 10 mile – Hyde Park Harriers

June 12th and 17 Harriers (11 men and 5 ladies) could be found in Otley to take on the 10 mile race in the lanes with plenty of hills both tough up and fast down. A slightly different start and finish due to the weather this year but the rest of the course is fairly familiar to many.

We had two award winners on the night with Steve Rhodes being 1st M55 and Amy Young coming home 2nd Female in 40th overall and a time of 1.07.03. Another maximum score for Amy in the premier division and also top age grading points so a good night “2nd lady in 67 minutes dead I think. 4 minutes 32 quicker than last year and I feel so happy with how I raced it. Lovely support out there from Liz Jones and Steve Brown and the marshals were awesome despite the weather. The organisation team must have had quite the day of it, having to change the start and finish due to the wet cricket pitch.”

2nd Harrier female home and picking up top points and 2 bonus points for the 1st division was Sarah Underwood in a time of 1.26.44 while 3rd home taking 2nd in the premier division and the final bonus point was Clare Maxwell in a time of 1.38.10.

Eleanor Colman took 2nd place in the 2nd division while Robyn Johnson took 3rd and was happy “1.46.38 according to my Garmin which is a bit quicker than 10 miles into my 20 mile canal run from Sunday so I am very happy with that as tonight definitely was not flat! Loved my 1st outing at Otley 10 and chatted with some nice folks enroute before I nipped past them towards the end, then took down a Pudsey pacer, a Horsforth Harrier and an old guy I had in my sights since the start with about 300m to go. Great night”.

Into the men’s and continuing his fine form was Michael Vargas who came home 13th overall in a time of 1.01.37 claiming maximum points again in the premier division “A stitch and stomach issues put paid to anything spectacular, just not my day. Can’t go back to work after narrowly losing to Will Kerr. On the upside a new course best by about 4 seconds.”

19th overall and 2nd premier division points went to Scott Watson who finished in a time of 1.04.12 while the final bonus point and 3rd place premier points went to Philip Goose in a time of 1.06.46 “got beaten by a fireman, a 40 year old who looks 30 and pipped a pensioner on the line!”

Steve Rhodes was next home in the same time as Phil, and posted the fastest age grading on the night with 77.75 “A minute off my PB and a good evenings racing. Great support, sorry I didn’t acknowledge anyone for some reason I only hear support I don’t see folk.”

Top 1st division finisher was Lee Taylor who came home 85th and a time of 1.13.17. Robert Butler took 2nd place points in a time of 1.27.17 “Managed to nudge past the 65+ winner in the final hundred meters”.

Rick Pullan took 3rd place points while Nick Brown took 4th “Enjoyed the route from the back which meant not having to worry about overtaking on the narrow paths. Ran the majority of the hills and spent a bit longer enjoying the route”.

Unfortunately we had a non finisher when Andrew Maddock had to pull out “1st DNF, gutted as felt great at the start. Hopefully just an off night. Tight hamstring and really painful stomach and right side. Couldn’t stand up straight with out pain. Had to be picked up to be taken back to the start”.