NINE members of St Helens Sutton AC made the long journey to Tyneside to compete in what must be the world's largest half-marathon, The Great North Run.

This race always attracts a quality field, as well as being a mass participation event. First home, and fast establishing himself as one of the club's top runners was Chris Gerahty, who clocked an excellent 1 hour 19.29.

Still a relative newcomer to this type of distance, Barry Grainey was next posting a solid 1 hour 31.06. Enthusiastic Gary Freeman ran 1 hour 51.15 just getting the better of Pam Appleton, who timed 1 hour 52.04.

Lynn McEvoy had quite a tussle with Janet Holmes. Lynn's 1 hour 56.18 just holding sway over Janet's 1 hour 56.23. Phil Skerry ran 2 hours 2.39, while Pauline Picton timed 2 hours 5.31 with Alan Davies completing the turn-out in 2 hours 11.59.

Meanwhil,e closer to home Andy O'Connor ran in the NVAC 10-mile championship at Warrington. Strong winds buffeted the runners making fast times impossible. Even so Andy ran under the hour, the benchmark for distance runners. Clocking 59.39, he finished fourth in the mv40 section just missing out on a medal and 10th overall.