For 2022, we introduced a new virtual competition, the Yorkshire Vets’ Rankings. This allowed athletes to score points based on their best race times at five different distances across the year.
Points were based on WMA age-grading standards, which means the competition was handicapped by age and sex. This allowed all our athletes, younger and older, male and female, to compete with each other on an equal footing.
As a virtual competition, athletes could pick their races and take part without having to make it to a specific place on a specific day. We hoped this would draw in some athletes who, whether because of geography or just other commitments, don’t manage to get to our championship races; and it did.
We had 116 athletes submit their performances. The full results are now in, and here’s our top 10 for 2022. Well done to all on a great year’s running:
| Pos | Name | Club | Cat | Score |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Chris Ireland | Sheffield RC | M60 | 441.06 |
| 2 | Shane Grace | St Theresa’s AC | M40 | 437.34 |
| 3 | Martin Fillingham | Saltaire Striders | M50 | 435.46 |
| 4 | Chris Griffiths | Rotherham Harriers | M45 | 427.58 |
| 5 | Jed Turner | Sheffield RC | M60 | 418.65 |
| 6 | Robert Cassy | Sheffield RC | M40 | 417.12 |
| 7 | Ian Martin | Vale of York AC | M55 | 412.95 |
| 8 | Helen Waddington | Ilkley Harriers | F55 | 400.92 |
| 9 | Kate Scott | Steel City Striders | F55 | 398.12 |
| 10 | Donald Kennedy | Longwood Harriers AC | M55 | 397.11 |
Our top-ranked athlete was Chris Ireland (Sheffield RC, M60). Chris broke the 90% age-grade barrier a couple of times throughout the year, with a 17:55 (90.60%) at the Doncaster 5k in July, and a 36:59 (90.36%) 10k at the Percy Pud in December.
Just behind him was Shane Grace (St Theresa’s AC, M40). Shane’s best age-graded performance was his 5k, a 15:18 (91.50%) at the Mid-Cheshire 5k in April.
In third place was Martin Fillingham (Saltaire Striders, M50), whose highest score, a 34:09 (88.73%) 10k, came at Leeds Abbey Dash in October.
As well as the stand-out performances mentioned above, all three showed incredible consistency across a wide range of distances, achieving similar age-gradings from 1500m or a mile up to Half Marathon, or from 5k up to Marathon distance.
The full results spreadsheet can be found here. As well as the overall rankings, this includes rankings for each race distance, some team categories, and also a top 100 performances.
The single best performance of the year came from Dot Kesterton (Steel City Striders, F70), who ran 46:20 (96.98%) at the Rotherham 10k.
Two clubs did best at mobilising their members, Steel City Striders and Sheffield RC, and so managed to dominate the team competitions. Congratulations to all the members of winning teams shown below.
| Category | Club | Athletes |
|---|---|---|
| Mixed Team | Steel City Striders | Adrian Fisher (M45); Caroline Brock (F35); Wei Chen (M50); Kate Scott (F55); Dave Beech (M65); Dorothy Kesterton (F70) |
| M35-49 | Sheffield RC | Robert Cassy (M40); Matt Worthington (M35); Christopher Moss (M35) |
| F35-59 | Steel City Striders | Caroline Brock (F35); Laura Mella (F35); Katie Gill (F35) |
| M50-59 | Steel City Striders | Wei Chen (M50); Jonathan Legon (M55); Neil Schofield (M50) |
| F50-59 | Steel City Striders | Kate Scott (F55); Karen Clark (F55); Jacqui Herring (F50) |
| M60+ | Sheffield RC | Chris Ireland (M60); Jed Turner (M60); Robert Pearson (M65) |
| F60+ | Steel City Striders | Dot Kesterton (F70); Jo Gleig (F60); Kate Waddicor (F65) |
Thanks to everyone who joined in by submitting their performances. We’ll take feedback, gauge interest, see if there are ways the format can be improved, and will hopefully have something similar for 2023 up and running in the next couple of months.