DAN Gilbert secured the club fell championship by finishing ahead of reigning champion Gary Chadderton at the Tour of Pendle – the latter taking second place this year.

The tour attracted a field of 434 fell runners with Julian Goudge finishing in 15th to take the M45 prize.

Gilbert and Chadderton were also at the Area Fell Grand Prix championship presentation on Friday to receive their prizes as Gilbert was second overall and Chadderton first M55.

Ed Swift’s running career has revived this season and he took the third prize in the M70 category.

Also on the fell running scene, Neil Holding finished fourth in an icy and muddy David Staff Memorial Race at Darwen, to take the M50 prize.

Holding had been Horwich’s sole senior male representative at the British Cross Country challenge race in Liverpool the previous day where he took second place in the M55 category.

Janet Rashleigh, the club’s sole senior female, took the F55 category prize.

In the under-15s' category among a large field from across the UK, Robert Seddon (51st), Toby Middleton (88th) and Matthew Mair (99th) had strong runs all within two minutes of the winning time.

Charlotte Wilkinson was the only female junior from Horwich and she was 15th of 63 in the Mid Lancs League fixture run in parallel with the British competition, in which she was 119th of 238.

Last weekend also saw the running of the English Schools Athletic Association at Sevenoaks where Canon Slade fielded several teams with Horwich members in a competitive event featuring many schools with a strong athletics heritage.

Ethan Isaacs helped the Canon Slade junior boys achieve a team result of 24th, while Isabella Merritt and Eva Baldwin had good individual results in the junior girls team that finished 25th.

Hannah Camden ran for Loreto Grammar School, whose team finished 18th in the junior girls’ event.

The inter girls featured Ella Pendlebury from Horwich, helping Canon Slade to a fine seventh place of 27 teams.

On the local stage, Emma Bradley won the Wigan primary schools cross country championship continuing her strong series of results.

Teamwork is also a feature of the Kong Mini Mountain Series where Andy Ford and partner Sophie Cunningham achieved second place in the Mixed Open series.

This is a fell orienteering format and at Kinder on Sunday, the conditions were horrendously hard with the wind-chill factor taking temperatures well below zero.

But with strong finishes in the bag at Coniston and Wasdale, Ford and Cunningham held on for the series' second prize.

In parkrun, it was a matter of only one second that separated Richard Howarth, habitual winner at Cuerden Valley, from Gareth Booth in second place.

At the Preston parkrun, Suzanne Budgett continued her tour of North West parkruns by being first woman home and Lewis Wilkes, still a junior, was third at Bolton.

Horwich RMI Harriers results: Tour of Pendle fell race (Barley) – 15th Julian Goudge 2:38:40, 54th Andy Ford 2:53:45, 80th Dan Gilbert 3:00:48, 177th Gary Chadderton 3:21:47.

British Athletics Cross challenge (Sefton Park) – (men) 260th Neil Holding 41:40; (women) 132nd Janet Rashleigh 35:31.

Run the Wilmslow 10k road race – 1,844th Emily Bamford 1:00:25.

David Staff Memorial Fell Race (Darwen) – 4th Neil Holding 32:58, 58th David Barnes 42:08, 63rd Tony Hesketh 42:53, 82nd Tony Varley 49:33.

3-1-5 10k road race (Lancaster) – 18th Geoff Leech 44:51.

Mini Mountain Marathon (Kinder) – (Mixed Open series) – 2nd Andy Ford and Sophie Cunningham 1,563pts.