A WEDNESDAY evening 10 mile race in Otley recently attracted nearly 400 runners in total, from across Yorkshire, to take on a challenging route known for the long steep hills and beautiful scenery.

Bedale runners Paul and Nicola Simpson took on the course with Paul finishing in a time of 1 hour 16 mins 17 secs and a position of 132. Nicola was the 35th female runner to finish in 1-23.15 and an overall position of 228.

The next race in the Bedale club's championship was the Newton Aycliffe 10K. The conditions were dry and warm, but the strong breeze combined with the undulating course made the two and a half lap route challenging. The course did not deter the Bedale contingent with four achieving personal best times for a 10K event. First home for the men was the consistently performing Paul Berry with a time of 43 minutes 15 seconds and an impressive position of 68th overall, and 8th finisher in his age group. Close behind was Paul Simpson, running his second race of the week, who achieved a PB of 43.48, and 79th out of the 373 finishers. New member Will Retchless is proving that he will be a strong contender in the club championship, finishing in a PB time of 44.09 for 84th overall. Next to finish was Nicola Simpson, also running her second race of the week, in a PB time of 45.39 for 112th overall, 12th female and 5th in her age catagory. Raymond Lightle had a strong finish to improve on his time last year at this event with a time of 46.42 for 127th and 5th in the M60 category. Relatively new member Alex McNairn is also making a strong impact, completing the race in 47.38 for a new PB and overall race position of 140th.

The latest race in the club's championship was the Staveley Stampede 10K in which John Hunter was the only Bedale runner taking part. This is one of his favourite events which is well organised and has an excellent and friendly atmosphere. John ran well finishing 151st out of nearly 200 competitors in a time of 63.14. Meanwhile second claim member, Lena Conlin, was completing her 67th race over the marathon distance or more. The Hardmoor's White Horse was a 27 mile trail race with over 4000 feet of ascent/descent. This was also the event that she passed over a thousand miles in the Hardmoor's series over the years. Lena finished 1st FV50 for the race taking 6 hours 3 minutes to complete the course. Lena is an incredible running machine always happy to give advice and encouragement to others in the club.

There are always a few Bedale runners at every Catterick Parkrun, and on the recent first year anniversary several members took part with four finishing with personal bests for the course. Paul McGee had his first ever run at Catterick and recorded an impressive time of 20 mins 07 secs for 71st out of over 300 taking part. New members Mark Thompson and Rachel Tait both posted PBs with fast times of 20.27 and 25.22 respectively. Rebecca Smith is running well this season and improved on her previous best to 24.08, closely followed by regular park runner Raymond Lightle who finished in a time of 24.13. Nicola and Paul Simpson ran with Nicola setting a PB of 21.56 and finishing 4th fastest female. Paul ran with his son Joshua who also recorded a PB of 27.44. John Hunter had a strong run to complete the course in 28.41.