Race Report 2006 

Wetherby Runners held their inaugural 10K event on 17^th September, with an excellent turn out considering the very busy local race calendar. The field of 202 finishers were stretched to keep pace with Tracey Morris, who recovering from her Marathon in Gothemburg was, never the less racing well within her form. She was pushing the pace in order to secure the £100 cash prize set by local Insurance Brokers’ Jack Joy Insurance’ of 35 min 30 seconds. In theory the task looked 'do-able', the hills around the rural route were short rises over the motorway and she made the most of the the good fast sections. Very scenic quiet roads and tracks to the east of the town were picking up an increasing westerly breeze however and it was only through a hard push in the final loop of almost 1km that she was able to reach the target with a margin of 5 seconds and 6^th place overall.

An outstanding performance from Victoria Gill 36.34 secured her 8^th place overall.

The Start Line in 2006

In the male race, local favourites Craig Keedy (St Teresa’s) and Richard Johnson (Swaledale), eventually finishing 7th, 35 min 29 seconds, and 9th, 37.25 respectively were outshone by late entries from further a field.

Mathew Pierson of Holmfirth was a strong contender for the top cash prize of £150 and for the first 3km was pushing the eventual winner hard during the first 3km.

Mathew Pierson & Tarus Elley do battle at 1km

Steven Neil (Pudsey & Bramley AC) battled strongly in the early stages for 3^rd overall in 34 min 20 sec with Andrew Parker 4^th in 35.08.

The performance of the day came from Salford Harriers Tarus Elley. The effortless lopping stride of the Kenyan was a joy to watch. He ran well within his capabilities and looked fresh as he crossed the line in 32 min 10 seconds. He had a good margin of 50 seconds within the cut-off time of 33 minutes for the top cash prize.

Tarus’s approximate split times were:

1km- 2.48, 2km- 3.07, 3km- 3.13, 4km- 3.06, 5km- 3.39, 6km- 2.55, 7km- 3.18, 8km- 3.20,9km- 3.15 and 10km- 3.26.

Local Cup Winner Ryan Hall

The afternoon’s racing gave several runners personal best performances which considering the warm conditions was a great bonus. Aching muscles, ligaments & tendons were suitably massaged by the local osteopathy practice there with three tables as they were kept busy raising charity money for co-hosts Wetherby Lions. The course has great promise for future years and could comfortably accommodate twice the number of runners.

Better than a toasted cheese sandwich

Alex, the local Highland Piper, gave runners a pleasant surprise at the 1km marker and received cheers and shouts from the passing runners and all finishers received a goody bag containing banana and ‘Hilly’ Running Hat embroidered with ‘The Wetherby Run’, a useful piece of clothing as the colder evening runs approach.