Thursday 2nd June 2022
Harriers members of all ages travelled to the picturesque village of Austwick in the Yorkshire Dales to take part in this race, which was part of a village fete held to celebrate the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee. The village was so full of displays and stalls that the runners had difficulty in finding the right place to sign on for the races. Georgina Benson set the ball rolling for Preston Harriers by taking 2nd place in the Under 11 girls section. In the Under 13 race, Lucas Cooke ran well to place 3rd overall and 2nd boy, and Beau Ince and Olivia Wood also had good runs. In the competitive Under 15/17/19 age group, Adam Link placed 4th overall, Matthew Link was 7th and Vladimir Wiggins 15th. The senior race covered an 8 mile course over the fells, with 2 miles of climb, 4 miles relatively flat and a 2 mile descent back to the village. Daniel Bradford of Shettleston Harriers was the overall winner in 48 minutes 37 seconds. First Harrier was veteran David Parkington in 61:02 for 36th place, closely followed by newcomer Joel Hanson, who was 40th in 62:04. Olga Wiggins was the only female Harrier to take part. There were 155 finishers.
