ANDY Stubbs and Paul Guinan may be the top performers in this year's Pendle and Burnley Grand Prix but they will both be ruing the one that got away'.

The pair have won four of the first 10 races between them and neither runner has finished outside of the top five every time they have competed.

But the fact that Clayton runner Stubbs and Guinan of Blackburn Harriers have each missed one race looks certain to rob them of ultimate glory.

No shows at the Burnley Lions 10k for Guinan and the Burnley Boys Club 10K for Stubbs means they currently lie fourth and fifth respectively behind overall leader Gary Shaw.

At the Cliviger Six Road Race, the pair clinched one-two finishes for the third time this series when Stubbs clocked 33 minutes 39 seconds.

It was the third victory for the former Grand Prix winner who also beat Guinan in to second place in the Barley Fell Race.

For Guinan, he has been a model of consistency having finished in second place no fewer than seven times and in each of his last five outings.

The Blackburn Harrier, who won the Kelbrook Fell Race with Stubbs in second place, finished in second place in 34.17.

While it was another impressive performance from the two runners, the race for the Grand Prix title is between Clayton pair Gary Shaw and Neil Worswick.

Overall leader Shaw, who only has one top five finished to his name so far, took eighth place in 35.49 while Worswick was 18th in 38.16. Chris Shaw, also of Clayton and in third place overall, finished in 15th place in 37.14.

At Cliviger, Andrew Buttery made his second appearance of the series and the Rossendale Harrier finished in third place in 34.55 while Clayton's Mark Aspinall finished in fourth place on his first outing in a time of 35.09.

Todmorden Harrier, Alex Whittem was also making his Grand Prix bow and completed the top five in a time of 35.13.

Blackburn Harrier runner, Pauline Powell, showed what might have been in the ladies race when the Great Britain runner finished in a superb sixth place in 35.23. It was her first outing in the series and denied Amy Green her eighth victory when the Todmorden Harrier finished in 10th overall and second lady in a time of 36.52.

Like Stubbs and Guinan, Green finds herself down the leader board having missed two races. So Pendle's Dawn Richards is the current overall leader, finishing in 84th in 47.41 with Clayton's Lorna Balmer, second in the series, finishing 103rd in 52.57.