Bingley Harriers pulled out the stops to win Sunday's final West Yorkshire Cross-Country League fixture at Thornes Park, Wakefield and so regain the club title from Leeds City.
A strong last lap in heavy underfoot conditions from Chris Cariss took him into third place behind winner Kim Critchley (Knavesmire) and Martin Gostling (Leeds).
Having narrowly missed Olympic selection in 2004 and then suffering serious injury, Cariss is back training 50 miles a week and seemingly on the way towards recovery.
In one of the strongest leagues in the country, other excellent performances inc-luded team victories for Guiseley's Skyrac in the under-17 women and Spenborough in the under-13 women.
Local runners won the majority of championship titles.
Jonathan Brownlee from Bradford Grammar School was individual champion among the junior men.
Other male winners were Bingley's Thom Crowley (under-17s), Keighley's Faisal Iqbal (under-15s), Spenborough's Liam Steadman (under-13s) and Joe Walker (under-11s), also from Spenborough.
Emma Wilkinson (Spen-borough) was girls' champion in the under-13s and Abby Parkinson (Bradford Grammar) won the under-11s.
In the various vets' categories Andrea Dennison (Bingley), Alison Bennett (Ilkley) and Stewart MacDonald (Bingley) were victorious.
MacDonald also triumphed in slightly more congenial conditions in the Lanzarote Marathon, with team-mate John Convery second in the half-marathon.
The Thirsk Ten-miler was won by Otley's Ian Fisher in a fine time of 51min 28sec.
Comments: Our rules
We want our comments to be a lively and valuable part of our community - a place where readers can debate and engage with the most important local issues. The ability to comment on our stories is a privilege, not a right, however, and that privilege may be withdrawn if it is abused or misused.
Please report any comments that break our rules.
Read the rules hereComments are closed on this article