CARLY Hancock was Radcliffe's first lady finisher in the South-East Lancs league meeting at Lilford Park, Leigh.

She finished in a splendid 27th among good club runners in 29.43, while Eileen Sharman was 69th overall and 10th in the over-45s.

On a wet and windy day the going was tough with standing water and deep mud making the race a real test of endurance.

Jim and Rebecca Howard competed in the under-13 races, finishing 25th (12.28) and 23 (11.20), both putting their best foot forward.

The start of the men's race was a good old stampede as the runners charged for the first narrow gap, where the course went into the woods.

Adrian Harris was prominent, making a typically fast start.

Mike Howard very gradually ate into Adrian's opening lead but never managed to catch his club-mate. Adrian finished 32nd, and was eighth O40, in 36.43 while Mike finish 10 seconds later.

They both put up a good race, and so did Danny Appleby, who was 52nd in 38.16.

Dave Bartlett seems to be regaining form after a lay-off, and he rolled in 87th in 42.29.

Arthur Warren did Radcliffe proud, pushing on after a slow start to take 107th (18th O50) in 43.24, pursued by Craig Lutener and Steve Hamer, who were 116th and 117th respectively.

Steve Higginbottom, running in track-suit bottoms, managed 126th place in 45.41.

Mark Emmett had a bit of a torrid time, fading away to 130th after seeming ready to challenge David Bartlett after the first of the three laps. He came in 130th, 46th over 40, in 46.17.

Achievements in running are always relative to expectation so Jim Sutcliffe, who once suffered a bad leg injury and might not have been able to run at all, was pleased with 140th in 48.13.

Tony Meakin completed Radcliffes squad, 155th in 52.40.