Burnden Roadrunners made their presence felt among 4,000 runners with some fine performances at the Liverpool Half Marathon.

Strong running from members of the club was rewarded with some impressive placings.

In sunny but breezy conditions the new course proved challenging in parts, with a couple of steady climbs testing the runners in the later stages of the race.

The race was won by Ben Fish of Blackburn Harriers in 1:07:24 followed by Nick Leigh of Altrincham in 1:10:41.

Local runner Paul Freary (Belgrave Harriers) was third in a time of 1:11:23.

First home for the Burnden team was John Knowles whose excellent time of 1:21:54 saw him claim 53rd place overall. The impressive veteran trio of Andy Duffy (1:22:50), Andy Staveley (1:23:11), and Martyn Pollitt (1:24:30) finished comfortably in the top 100 overall and also claimed 4th, 5th and 7th place out of 267 runners in the over-45 category. Paul Christie's run of 1:29:16 secured 10th place in the Vet 50 category while Dave Griffin (1:41:27) was 15th Vet 55. In the Ladies race, Lesley Fisher continued her comeback from injury problems with an excellent time of 1:36:01.

This fine performance earned Lesley 3rd place in the female over-45 category and 29th place in the ladies race overall. Anne Ferguson (1:43:09) finished eighth F45.