BURNDEN Road Runners' Phil Eccleston made light of the wintry weather along Blackpool promenade on Sunday when he recorded a new personal best in the Great North West Half Marathon.

Eccleston led the Road Runners finishers in a time of 1hr 18mins 24secs to finish sixth.

Meanwhile, John McMyler shook of his current hamstring problems to run to his target in 1:29:23 and Katy Thompson clocked a strong 1:44:08.

Closer to home, in equally-testing conditions, two Burnden athletes took part in the Terry Nortley 10-Mile Trail Race in Radcliffe.

Andy Duffy finished in 1:15:56 and Lesley Fisher collected first F55 in 1:20:25.

The other local race of the day was the Lostock Six-Mile, which took place on a new faster course.

Adrian Merritt put in a strong run to finish in 41:21, followed by Holly Craggs (second F35) 42:45, Craig Philpot 43:41, Graham Robinson 47:08, Gari Jones 50:50, Julie Newton 51:07, Malcolm Whitehead 56:20 and Sue Blackman 1:03:16

In the Standish Hall Trail 10K, Paul Duke ran 46:19 and Ian Pudge finished in 50:24, while in the Mr Sparkles Dark’Un, Laurence Keighley came home in 47:21.

In the Endurance Store Bat League, Moss Chops Five-Mile (150 metres climb), Burnden's Andy Staveley finished in 37:23.

Sunday sees the fifth outing of the club’s own Trotters Five-Mile Trail race around Smithills Country Park.

Entries can still be made on the day with a 10am prompt start from Smithills Coaching House and registration at the Sports Centre. Visit the website at burndenroadrunners.co.uk for further details.