RUNNERS were out in force at the weekend when the fourth round of the Mid Lancs Cross Country Championships came to Towneley Park.

Nearly 400 runners took part in the junior races for under 11s to under 17s with nearly as many taking part in the senior men’s and ladies races at the Burnley venue.

In the junior ranks, while East Lancashire clubs only had two individual winners, they dominated the team events winning five of the seven that were up for grabs.

Burnley Athletics Club were Girls Under 11s winners while Trawden AC took the boys prize in the same age group.

Blackburn Harriers were Girls Under 13s and Boys Under 15s winners with Chorley AC and Tri club taking the Girls Under 15s award.

Individually, Amelia Halstead narrowly missed out on glory in the Girls Under 11s race. The Clayton le Moors runner finished second in 7 minutes 22 seconds - just seven seconds behind winner Georgia Bell from Barrow and Furness St.

Louise Halliwell of Chorley AC and Tri was third in 7mins 34secs and there were also top 10 finishes for Erica Corns, the Burnley AC youngster finishing sixth in 7.44, one second ahead of Barlick Fell Runners’ Lucille Parker.

In the team event, Burnley AC finished first with Chorley AC and Tri in second place. Blackburn Harriers were fourth and Trawden AC fifth.

In the Boys Under 11s race, Harry Smith finished in fourth place in 6mins 47secs to help Trawden AC to first place in the team event.

There were also top 10 finishes for his teammates Ben Stratton (sixth, 6mins 54secs) and Matthew Fleming (ninth, 6mins 58secs).

Blackburn Harriers’ youngster Samuel Aspey was eighth in 6mins 55secs with Chorley’s Jack Lamb 10th in 7mins in a race that was won by Louis Bigland of Kendal-Helm Composite who clocked a winning time of 6mins 37secs.

Blackburn Harriers only had one runner in the top 10 in the Girls Under 13s race but it was a collective effort that saw them win the team prize. Hollie Cubbon was 10th in 9mins 55secs with Leah Holle (13th) and Kate Cookson (16th) making up the winning team.

Ella Dorrington-Levy of Clayton le Moors finished in an impressive third place in 9mins 38secs, 15 seconds behind race winner Olesia Winder of Levens Valley AC.

Ella’s Clayton teammate, Helena White, also finished in the top 10, a time of 9mins 46secs good enough for sixth place. But despite those efforts, Clayton had to settle for third place in the team awards with Chorley AC and Tri pipping them for second place.

Gabrielle Hodson was first marker for Chorley, clocking 9mins 52secs for eighth place with Lucy Poole (14th) and Megan (19th) playing their part.

Trawden trio - Holly Crook (12th), Georgia Harvey (17th) and Abigail Stratton (25) - helped the club to fourth place.

The Boys Under 13s race was just one of the two not won by one of the East Lancs clubs, and individually, runners did not really trouble the leaderboard either.

Tobias Swarbrick of Lancaster and Morecambe AC won in a time of 10mins 09secs with Joseph Ormrod of Rossendale Harriers the pick of the local runners, finishing ninth in 10mins 59secs.

Robbie Smedley’s 10th place in 11mins 02secs helped Clayton-le-Moors to third place in the team prize with William Nicholls 12th and Matthew Jackson 19th.

The Blackburn Harriers trio of Hayden Mercer (17th), David Holman (18th) and Rory Teare (26th) finished in fourth place.

There was a strong presence at the top of the leaderboard in the Girls Under 15s race both in the individual and team efforts.

Six of the top 10 runners were from the area with Chorley AC and Tri taking the team prize ahead of Blackburn Harriers.

Olivia Leigh of Chorley AC and Tri has improved in each of her outings this season, upgrading her third place at Leigh last time out to second place as she clocked 10mins 49 secs to finish behind Olivia Logan of Southport and Waterloo AC who won in 10mins 38 secs.

Blackburn Harriers Amy Davies recorded her second fourth place finish of the season as she clocked 11mins 19secs to repeat her result of the race at Cuerden Valley Park.

Trawden’s Sophie Stanworth was sixth in 11mins 34secs while Bethany Reid (Chorley) was eighth in 11mins 35secs, Eleesha Charnley (Blackburn Harriers) ninth in 11mins 38secs and Millie Stubbs (Clayton) was tenth in 11mins 51secs.

The winning Chorley team also included Amy Heaton (18th) while Rebecca Ramsden (29th) completed the Blackburn Harriers trio.

Blackburn Harriers teammates Sam Hodkinson and Matthew Ramsden are having a right old battle to see who will be top dog in the Boys Under 15s event.

The pair have battled it out for honours at the top of the leaderboard in the last three races.

Hodkinson took the honours at Towneley, clocking a winning time of 12mins 37secs. Ramsden, winner at Leigh and Sefton Park in the last two rounds, had to settle for third place this time with Joel Taylor of Rossendale Harriers second in 12mins 51secs, just three seconds ahead of Ramsden.

The trio have featured prominently at the top of the leader board in each of the last three races - Ramsden winning at both Leigh and Sefton, Hodkinson picking up a fourth and fifth place while Taylor as sixth and second.

Elsewhere, Maxwell Cunningham of Rossendale was fourth in 13mins 07secs with Jack Hughes (Chorley, 13mins 16secs) and Leon Thomas (Blackburn, 13mins 34secs) eighth and ninth place respectively.

With three runners in the top 10, Blackburn Harriers won the team prize with Rossendale Harriers in second place. In the Girls Under 17s race, Finty Royle of Chorley AC and Tri took the honours with a winning time of 14mins 36secs.

Clayton’s Briony Holt was second in 14mins 47secs with Nicola Moynihan of Hyndburn AC third in 15mins 21secs.

In the Boys Under 17s race, Rossendale Harriers were second individually and collectively - Benjamin Forrest finishing runner-up in 18mins 36secs while Kurtis Mitton (seventh) and Benjamin Kirkman (10th) to help the Harriers to second spot in the team event.

n For all the senior race action see the athletics page in tomorrow's Lancashire Telegraph.