WHEN Daniel Hoyle decided he wanted to join Rossendale Harriers it was like turning the clock back for mum Alison.

It was as a nine-year-old, the same age as Daniel, that Alison, then Alison Ashworth, joined Rossendale Harriers and Athletic Club.

She joined on her ninth birthday, which she had been looking forward to as it was the minimum age to join the club.

Little did she know at that stage that it would lead to her travelling all over the country with her friends at the club and lead to medals and trophies of which even today she is very proud of.

One of her fondest memories is winning the Scottish National Cross Country as an Under 11.

She travelled to Glasgow with Helen Graham and Helen's dad Jim, a coach at the club.

Leading almost from the start Alison ran away from the field to win comfortably.

But, it wasn't just on the country where Alison excelled and she held the club 400 metre record at 59 seconds as she qualified for the English Schools where she ran 60.3 secs.

Alison was heavily involved in what was probably the club's greatest period as runners of the calibre of Dave Lewis, Phil and Wayne Dixon, Martin Bradshaw, Mick Newby, Helen Graham and Michelle Lewis all made names for themselves.

The youngsters took on and beat clubs who were on paper much stronger, winning several national titles in the process.

Alison's career continued until the age of 17 when she admits: "I got interested in boys - a boy".

That boy was Michael Hoyle, now her husband.

She stopped running completely and that was that - until two years ago when Daniel dragged her and Michael down to Marl Pits and Alison rekindled her love affair. Today her sights, as far as her own running is concerned, are somewhat lower.

"I do it now to keep fit and have a good time. I would like to run faster, but wouldn't we all?" she said.

A husband and three children, Andrew 13, Daniel, now 11 and Katie age three keep her busy, together with a full time job as a Specialist Support Assistant at Constablelee Primary School, meaning time for training is severely limited, although she does occasionally train with Daniel. One event which she always takes part in is the Whinberry Naze Dash and she and Michael are key members of the Gotts Fancy Dress Formation Team.

Today she spends a considerable amount of time coaching the youngsters on Thursday nights and she also coaches an 18 strong cross country group at Constablelee School.