NEIL Wilkes succeeded son Lewis as this year's winner of Horwich RMI Harriers' Fielden Cup race.

The latest club contest is a handicap competition in which the aim is everyone finishes together, which on this occasion was not far off the mark as everyone finished within two minutes of winner Neil who made it two years in a row for the Wilkes family after Lewis' triumph in 2017.

The Fielden Cup has a long pedigree in Horwich’s history, going back to 1925 when club legend, Jack Prescott, won it.

Tony Hesketh organised the Fielden Cup and is the race director for many of the club’s own races.

He is in his seventh decade of racing which has had many highlights, including a 2hr 38mins finish in the 1984 Manchester Marathon.

His aim this year is to achieve 70 races as well as several parkruns and this week he achieved the best ever time for an over-70 year old at Sale Water Park parkrun in a time of 22:22, giving him a 78-per-cent age-graded result.

This was beaten only by under-15 Toby Middleton, who achieved 79 per cent by finishing eighth out of 815 at the Heaton Park parkrun in a great time of 17:51. Sean McMyler, at the same event, also achieved a 78-per-cent grading.

It was Alastair Murray’s turn this week to cross the international borders as he took on the celebrated Mont Blanc race from Orsières to Chamonix over a distance of 35.1 miles.

He finished in an impressive time of just short of seven-and-a-half hours. He got over the first three big climbs, including one of 1,300 feet in a mile, without, as he put it, "burning too many matches".

He then pushed on from the 24-mile point but struggled on the last climb and the final run in.

Murray was happy with his performance, being fifth British runner and 20th V40 – not bad in a race involving nearly 11,500 feet of ascent.

It was a quiet week elsewhere on the seniors’ scene but there were some more good performances from the juniors including Emma Bradley’s first place as u12 girl at the Reeth fell race in north Yorkshire.

In parkrun, Fern O’Brien was first u11 girl at Bolton, Samuel Bradley was first u11 at Haigh Woodland and Luke Brindle was fourth out of 381 at Chipping Sodbury.

Robert Seddon was third out of 370 at Bolton and Marty Arnot-Smith was first at the Queens park junior parkrun.

Horwich RMI Harriers results: Littleborough Lions 5k road race – 6th Andy Ford 17:15;

Ben Nevis fell race – 53rd Danny Hope 1:48:26;

Derwentwater 10k trail race – 253rd Nicola Kay 1:14:46;

Mont Blanc race – 122nd Alastair Murray 7:24:19.