A STRONG Harriers group of senior men finished 30th out of 83 teams at the ERRA championships in Birmingham – a 20-place improvement on last year.

All six legs were over 5.88km in what is a tough undulating course with a stiff first uphill mile and coordinator Dave Shaw was looking for a good showing in the hotly-contested competition.

Tom Lancashire, returning from holiday, took the first-leg spot and, despite his lack of race fitness showing, came in 20th place to set the team up well.

Jonny Kay had a good run to maintain the position before Karl Darcy’s 18mins 34secs launched Tony Valentine in 21st position.

Tommy Harrison then stretched the legs that carried him to the CLGP series’ individual title, with John Knowles showing his usual reliability to dig deep and hold on to the top-30 spot.

The Blue Vests finished seventh of all the Northern teams from the qualifiers a fortnight ago.

BUH&AC Senior Men: 30th of 83 – 1:53:49 – Tom Lancashire (20) 17:57, Jonny Kay (20) 18:20, Karl Darcy (21) 18:34, Tony Valentine (25) 19:55, Tommy Harrison (29) 19:19, John Knowles (30) 19:44.

Elsewhere, Simon Dally secured a silver medal from the 269 finishers in the West Coast Half Marathon at Lytham St Annes, clocking 78:39 despite being sent the wrong way by marshals, adding a minute to his time.