BURNDEN runners struck gold at the Northern Masters Track and Field Championships at Leigh Sports Village.

Mel Walker ran the seventh fastest 3k in the V70 category in the UK this year to win gold in a time of 13mins 9.6secs while Paul Christie won gold at 800m in the vet 60 category, clocking 2:38.8secs. Christie also took silver in the 400m in 69.3secs.

A day earlier, Walker was part of the Burnden vets-55s team which travelled to Sutton Coldfield to contest the National Masters Relay.

The team finished a creditable 19th against tough opposition.

Walker came home in a time of 21:54 for his three-mile leg, followed by Keith Thomas (V55) who ran 18:27 and Steve Nolan (V55) in 17:30. Nolan’s time was the sixth fastest in his category on the day.

Phil Eccleston came agonisingly close to winning the Brathay Windermere Marathon, covering the tough course in 2:43:26 to earn second place, less than three minutes behind the winner.

Just 48 hours earlier, Eccleston broke the 5k club record at Christleton near Chester, smashing 20 seconds off the previous best with a time of 16:27 but injuries which interrupted his marathon training cost him at Windermere.

He is already determined to go one better next year.

Lorraine Halwood and Kelly Sullavan headed the other side of Kendal for their latest marathon taking on the testing hills of the Howgills Montane Trail 26, both finishing together in 5:48:06.

Lesley Fisher continued her great run of form by coming first again in the V55 category at the Worden Park 10k completing the course in 45:26. Kirsty Normanton was third lady home in 41:44 while men’s captain Lee White led the club from the front, finishing 12th in a personal best of 38:49.

Other results: Adrian Merritt (43:26), Dave Pearson (53:25).

Flying the flag for Burnden at the Chester Half Marathon were John McMyler and Paula Pilling. McMyler posted 1:28:58, shaving a minute off the time he ran in the Blackpool half marathon while Pilling finished sixth in the F40 category in a superb 1:36:07, knocking nearly four minutes off her previous best and a massive 10 minutes quicker than her last Chester half in 2013.

A string of Burndeners notched up category wins at the Haigh Hall Four-Mile on a fantastic evening for racing. The club turnout was magnificent, with 57 members making up nearly a fifth of the field.

Steve Nolan was first in the V55 category in 23:16 and George Butler led the u20s in 25:41. Kirsty Normanton (26:06) was first home in the F45s, with Katy Thompson first F40 in 26:12. Ladies' captain Gwen Kinloch won the L55 category in 27:17.

Normanton and Thompson’s times along with Paula Pilling (27:00) earned Burnden the ladies team prize. Phil Eccleston (22:22) led the club’s runners home in 10th place overall, and with Nolan, Rob Short (24:07) and Lee White (24:34) helped the club to fifth place in the men’s team results.

Other results: Paul Duke (25:18), John McMyler (25:28), Andy Staveley (25:31), John Turner (25:41), Pete Hopley (25:45), Ed Ashton (26:43), Tony Wall (26:57), Laurence Keighley (27:20), Steven Yates (27:23), Paul Christie (27:45), Matt Barker (28:06), Craig Philpot (28:16), Simon Marland (28:35), Stewart Jones (28:54), Lyndsay Darbyshire (29:00), Anne Ferguson (29:10), Mark Butler (29:52), David Newman (30:08), David Aulton (30:11), Lawrence McDonald (31:10), Trevor Fishwick (31:28), Carolyn Barker (31:34), Reb Teyve (32:16), Jackie Oakes (32:28), Jeff Pendlebury (32:33), Lucille Corrigan (34:15), Alec Cottrill (34:35), Clair Marland (34:53), Maria Parkinson (35:23), Sheila Christie (35:45), Diane Morrison (36:13), Helen Shan (36:44), Nicola Hardy (36:52), Susan Williams (36:53), Julie Bower (39:24), Rita Ledwards (39:32), Sally Cottrill (39:33), Jessica Sammon (39:34), Louise Wall (40:08), Jackie Cairns (41:07), Sue Blackman (42:35), Anne Larkin (42:42), Lauren Swallow (43:14), Melissa Eccleston (43:36), Joanne Darby (44:56), George Ogden (45:06), Gillian McGowan (47:40), Amanda Ogden (48:06).