About 900 people will see out the year by taking part in Ripon Runners‘ Jolly Holly Jog 10k tomorrow.

The event, which is being held for the 35th time, is the club’s biggest of the year.

Usually held on a Sunday between Christmas and New Year, it attracts a mixture of seasoned club athletes and casual joggers.

Race director Anneke Imeson said:

“Whether you’re aiming for a personal best or just want to have a scenic jog out, it’s a fab time of year to run off the Christmas excess and prepare for the forthcoming New Year festivities.

“We’re extremely lucky as a club to have the support of the National Trust who are delighted every year to welcome so many runners to run around their stunning deer park as part of our 10k course.”

Starting at Hell Wath Nature Reserve, runners complete a multi-terrain loop through Mackershaw Woods and Studley Royal Deer Park, passing Monty’s bench, which is named in memory of Ripon Runners’ club co-founder and former club president. They then return via Mackershaw with a short section through Hell Wath woods, before approaching the finish line.

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The race fills up fast and this year’s 925 capacity has been reached.

The event raises funds for Upper Nidderdale Food Bank, which is based at St Cuthberts’ Church in Pateley Bridge and entrants are offered the chance to plant a tree. Over 400 saplings were planted last year.

Ripon Runners, which was founded in 1985, hosts various races throughout the year including the Burn Valley Half Marathon, which is a road event in Masham, the Ripon 10 Mile around Studley’s seven bridges, The Round Ripon Ultra, which is a 35-mile solo or team event and the festive Jolly Holly Jog 10k.

Ms Imeson said:

“We’re especially pleased this year as in May we sadly had to cancel our Ripon 10 event which had struggled to get back to regular race numbers post-covid. Many local races suffered and those that did go ahead saw significantly reduced numbers with increased expenses. That said it’s fantastic to see such a high entry this Christmas.

“Without such a positive response from Ripon Runners who step up to marshal, such a hugely successful race would not be possible, so huge kudos to our own club members.”

Organisers of Ripon’s third Summer Funfest are celebrating its success and looking to build on this further in 2024.

Ripon Together director Simon Hewitt said last week’s free activities at locations across the city and at Studley Royal Cricket Club were fully booked, with 400 youngsters taking part.

Activities included football, cricket, athletics, croquet, tennis, crazy golf and circus skills.

The week culminated in a megafun day on Thursday with obstacle courses, tug-of-war, sumo wrestling and many other sports and games, plus free Syrian street food.

Mr Hewitt said:

“Attendances at these events are growing year by year and this year they were all full up. Ripon Together will be considering how to grow the initiative further next year.”

In addition to its own funding, Ripon Together received grants from the locality budgets of city and North Yorkshire councillors Barbara Brodigan and Andrew Williams, the Jepson Trust and the Ripon Girls Fund.

The week was also supported by Ripon Runners, Ripon Spa Croquet Club, Studley Royal Cricket Club, JD Football Academy and the Sun Parlour Cafe, as well as Morrison’s, Sainsbury’s, Booths and M&S.

For the third successive year, Ripon Together and its partners have arranged  a programme of free activities for young people this summer.

The four-day Funfest starts on Monday August 14 and offers something for everyone at locations across the city and at Studley Royal Cricket Club.

Activities range from storytelling to juggling, mindfulness and formal sports coaching in cricket and football.

While the events are free, those planning to attend need to book for many of them and further details can be obtained by clicking here

At Studley Royal Cricket Club on Monday, August 14, there will be relay races and an obstacle course, alongside coaching from Ripon Runners and cricket coaching.

On the same day, Ripon Library will have a smoothie bike in place, so that people can use pedal power to make their own healthy drinks. There will also be stories and games for young children, followed by a film evening for teenagers.

On Tuesday, August 15, in addition to the cricket and athletics at Studley Royal, Ripon Spa Croquet Club will also be running a come and play session.

Spa Park is the venue for August 16, where there will be football coaching, circus skills training and crazy golf.

The Funfest finale will be staged Studley Royal Cricket Club on Thursday August 17 with a large inflatable obstacle course in place, sumo wrestling and croquet.

Inspire Youth will be providing mindfulness, table tennis, football penalties and other activities. There will also be free food.

David Ingham, a director of Ripon Together, said:

“We are massively grateful to our local councillors, Morrisons, The Jepson Trust and Ripon Girls Club for our funding.  The programme is also a great example of how Ripon Together can bring the community together to deliver for the city.

“Studley Royal Cricket Club, Ripon Spa Croquet Club, YMCA and others have been so supportive in delivering this programme for the children of our city.”

For most people, the Great Knaresborough Bed Race is all about fun and supporting good causes.

But for some, it’s also a highly competitive 2.4-mile mad dash across town and river while pushing a bed.

The elite teams train hard for the glory of arriving back at Conyngham House first and it’s doubtful whether anyone has had more success in the event’s 57-year history than Chris Miller, 41, who led the GH Brooks team to victory in 13 minutes and five seconds last week.

It was Chris’ 12^th success in the race since he first took part in 2003, making him the Novak Djokovic of the bed race. He chalked up nine wins with Harrogate Harriers before having a break and landing three more with GH Brooks.

The GH Brooks team leading with Chris (left)

The GH Brooks team is on a four-race winning streak. Its reserve team even managed third, with Ripon Runners second in the men’s race and first in the women’s.

GH Brooks is a builders’ merchants in Harrogate and although the name conjures up images of guys in high vis jackets with jeans hanging down their backsides beating a load of runners, the truth is more prosaic.

They are the Harlem Globetrotters of the bed race — local running superstars hand-picked for the event thanks to the support of GH Brooks owner Andy Broadwith. Chris confesses:

“We are a team of ringers. We are all mates who race for local clubs.”

Chris represents Wharfedale Harriers, others run for Harrogate Harriers and Leeds City Athletic Club. But nothing on the track or fell compares with the bedlam of bed race, where tens of thousands of people line the midsummer streets.

Running for Wharfedale

He says:

“It’s just mad. When you come by the World’s End pub you are just hit by this wall of noise.”

Elite local runners are queueing up to be part of the GH Brooks success story but Chris, who by day is a scientist, is understandably reluctant to break up a winning team. John Young, with six race wins, is another major part of the success.

Don’t even think of applying if you can’t manage a five-minute mile — and not many can. To maintain that pace while pushing a bed up winding, undulating streets and swimming across the Nidd is extraordinary.

“You have to be a competitive standard because you’re only as fast as your slowest runner. You’ve got to be prepared to be hurt and then hurt again.

“Experience helps but it’s down to having six runners who are all of a similar standard.”

This year’s time was six seconds slower than last year, when GH Brooks became the first to dip below 13 minutes.

But Chris says it was the “hottest and hardest” bed race he’s done.

Winning with Harrogate Harriers

How long will he continue? A couple of years, he says, but admits bed race is addictive. He will send out the call after Christmas to see who wants to enter and doesn’t expect many refusals. He says:

“People say afterwards ‘I think this will be my last one’ but when it rolls round they want to do it again. There’s nothing like it.”

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Knaresborough’s hopes of a home town bed race winner ended in bizarre fashion on Saturday when their bed malfunctioned early in the race.

The town has proudly hosted the whacky annual event since 1966 but its men’s running club, Knaresborough Striders, has never won.

The club’s fastest runners trained hard in the months leading up to the 2.4-mile race in the hope of putting that right.

They lined-up third on the grid behind defending champions GH Brooks and Ripon Runners, confident they could mount a challenge in what is a fiercely contested event amongst local running clubs.

But hardly had the team got out the traps at Conyngham Hall than its bed started wobbling and shortly afterwards a wheel seized up completely on Waterside.

As other teams raced by, their hopes of victory shattered, they ditched the bed, sprinted along Waterside to collect a spare bed one of the team had at their nearby home and rejoined the race.

They managed a remarkable 16 minutes and 12 seconds, which would have been good enough for 10th place, but it is not listed among the official results because the spare bed did not have a timing chip.

Guy Close, chairman of Knaresborough Striders, hailed the “incredible team spirit” shown at a time of crushing disappointment. He said:

“This was the first time a team has ever had to stop and then replaced its bed mid-race.

“We were all absolutely gutted because we hoped to challenge the top couple of teams, but these things happen.”

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A still from the bed camera showing the team marooned on Waterside.

This video shot by a camera on board the bed captured the team’s bad luck. Mr Close said:

“The bed broke almost immediately. You can hear from the link to the YouTube video that it wasn’t right from the start.

“We were all so determined and the support from the crowds was incredible.”

Full results of this year’s bed race are available here.