Yorkshire Dales Classics Race Series 2026
Thank you to everyone who competed in our inaugural running of the Yorkshire Dales Classics series 2026! We hope you enjoyed topping out on the beautiful Yorkshire Three Peaks and traversing the less travelled limestone scars above Settle. Certainly the feedback we’ve had from runners has been very positive.
We had 407 runners entering at least one of the four races (322 men, 85 women), with 61 qualifying for the series by completing at least three of the events. Well done to all of you and congratulations to the series winners listed below. Commemorative coasters were given out to competitors who completed three races. If you think you qualified for this but didn’t pick up your coaster, please contact Gary Allsopp and we’ll try to get one to you.
| Category | Winner | Points |
| 1st Senior man | Chris Holdsworth (Calder Valley) | 298 |
| 2nd Senior man | Freddie Roden (Abbey Runners) | 292 |
| 3rd Senior man | Sean Flanagan (Leeds City AC) | 285 |
| 1st MV40 | Mark McGoldrick (Settle Harriers) | 269 |
| 1st MV50 | Dave Ottewell (Settle Harriers) | 199 |
| 1st MV60 | Ian Ferguson (Bingley Harriers) | 118 |
| 1st MV70 | Trevor Symonds (Northern Fells RC) | 22 |
| Category | Winner | Points |
| 1st Senior woman | Helen Smith (Wharfedale) | 296 |
| 2nd Senior woman | Rachel Pilling (Pudsey & Bramley AC) | 283 |
| 3rd Senior woman | Nickey Russell (Bowland FR) | 275 |
| 1st WV40 | Helen Smith (Wharfedale) | 283 |
| 1st WV50 | Nickey Russell (Bowland FR) | 275 |
| 1st WV60 | Ruth Dorrington (North Leeds FR) | 234 |
Final overall standings
Congratulations also to the winners of our OMM running shoe giveaway, drawn from those who entered all four events. These were Niamh Jackson and Ben Goodacre.
We’d like to thank our sponsors, Kirkby Lonsdale Brewery who provided a beer for each runner from their fantastic range; OMM for donating the overall series prizes and the shoe giveaway prizes; and Pete Bland Sports for help with prize vouchers.
We will certainly be repeating the Yorkshire Dales Classics series in 2027, possibly with a few small tweaks to the format, so we look forward to seeing you next year.
