BURNDEN’S Marcus Taylor put in a terrific performance to finish second in the Northern Vets Cross Country run at Smithills.

Taylor ran the 10k course over trails made tricky by two days of rain in 36mins 50secs – the first guest runner to finish and just 46 seconds behind the winner.

Keith Thomas was first V55 in fourth place overall with a time of 38:36.

Lesley Fisher was first female guest runner, first F55 and second female finisher in fifth place overall in 42:21, just eight seconds ahead of Andy Duffy in sixth place who in turn was just nine seconds in front of Laurence Keighley, seventh overall in 42:30.

Gwen Kinloch was 10th overall and second F55 in 44:12 with Don Nichol first M60 crossing the line in 11th place in 45:29.

Mumtaz Patel (48:48), Andy Warburton (49:21) and Elaine Roper (50:01) completed an impressive club showing of 10 places in the top 18 finishers.

Dave Pearson took part in the 5k event, finishing second M60 in 28:07.

Phil Eccleston put in a superb run at the Central Lancs Half Marathon in Lea Town, near Preston, finishing fourth in 1hr 16mins 27secs.

Ed Ashton was the next Burndener home in a time of 1:27:21, just ahead of Martyn Pollitt, who crossed in 1:27:53.

Lyndsay Darbyshire (1:36:47), Isaline Pollitt (1:42:46) and Anne Ferguson (1:44:35) completed the club’s representation.

Sarah Sutcliffe travelled to Kielder Castle close to the Scottish border in Northumberland to take part in the Kielder Duathlon relay event.

An 8k run of 54:06 (including T1) set her and co-competitor Gary Schofield on their way, followed by 1:32:44 (including T2) for the 20k mountain bike section, then 47:35 for the final 7k run, giving them an overall total time of 3:14:26.