Athletics: For various reasons Bingley Harriers couldn't field their top 12 runners in Saturday's Nike National 12 Stage Relay at Sutton Park in the Midlands and finished outside the medals in sixth place.

Richard Nerurkar has still not competed due to a virus and Andrew Pearson who has yet to compete in a team event for his club since his summer move from Longwood was in the prestigious Caledonian 10km event at Balmoral.

Steve Green was also an absentee nursing a sore groin that forced him to pull out of the London Marathon at 22 miles last weekend.

Bingley were always going to struggle to emulate their performance at Wigan when they took the Northern title.

Mick Hawkins, John Convery and fell star Ian Holmes ensured the Harriers got off to a decent start and Embsay based youngster Matthew Watson had a storming run on leg four to put them up into third place, a position they held up to leg seven.

Team captain Colin Moore, although personally disappointed with his own performance was upbeat by stating: "Sixth team in England isn't that bad."

Favourites Tipton won the event with Salford second and Morpeth third. Midland giants Birchfield were surprisingly out of the medals in fourth place and Sale another of Bingley's Northern conquests were fifth.

Andrew Pearson finished seventh at Balmoral when Skyrac international Peter Whitehead outsprinted him for sixth place in 29-47.

Sunday's Three Peaks Fell Race from Horton-in-Ribblesdale was won by Bingley's Mark Croasdale. The early pace was set by Mark Horrocks, of Clayton-le-Moors, but Croasdale caught the Lancastrian and pushed on in the road section to win by almost a minute, covering the arduous 24 mile course in 3hr 4min 48sec.

The stifling hot conditions forced almost 50 runners to pull out of the race to leave 333 finishers.

Ilkley's Jason Hemsley was fifth, Pudsey and Bramley's Paul Briscoe was sixth and Steve Bottomley of Eccleshill was eighth. Bingley's John Rawnsley, at 62, claimed the distinction of completing his 30th Three Peaks in 5-05-38.

Angela Mudge of Scottish club Carnethy won the women's race in a superb 11th place overall in 3-20-17, exactly four minutes outside second placed Sara Rowell's record set in 1996.

Mudge, the reigning British fell champion also took the first newcomer prize, the first time a woman has won this award. Rowell of Pudsey and Bramley a four times winner of the event was well clear of third woman Alison Raw of Darlington.

The Rothwell 10km Road Race was won by Scott Mitchell of Leeds City in 31-23. Skipton's Dave Oselton who has been dogged by a virus, returned to form by winning the veterans category.

Denise Dean of Pudsey Pacers also rediscovered some form by finishing runner-up to Imperials Cathy Wright and Bradford Airedale's Andrea Dennison shrugged off the effects of the London Marathon to finish fourth in 39-11 in the women's section.

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