BURNDEN’S Andy Staveley won the tough five-mile Mad Bull Torch Challenge round Rivington at the weekend.

Staveley completed the trail run up and round the Pike in freezing conditions in 41mins 29secs, more than four minutes ahead of his nearest challenger.

This was the second of three races in the series. The final event is on Saturday, January 5.

There were several age-group successes for the club at the South East Lancs Cross Country event at Tandle Hill, the second stage of the four-race series.

Isaline Pollitt was first F50 in the ladies race in 34:44, with Anne Ferguson first F60 in 36:11 and Keith Thomas first V60 in the men’s race in 52:36.

Lyndsay Darbyshire was fourth F50 in 38:00 and Louise Wall crossed the line in 44:42.

Pollitt, Ferguson and Darbyshire’s combined effort put them on top of the over-40s, o45s and o50s' team standings and second in the o35s list. They were fifth in the overall team rankings.

In the men’s event, Rob Short led the club home, 28th overall, in 47:11 followed by Martyn Pollitt, third V55 in 50:57.

Tony Wall was second V60 in 53:46 and his time combined with Pollitt and Thomas’s put Burnden second in the o50 team standings.

Marcus Taylor tested himself in extreme conditions at the NAV 4 fell challenge in the Lakes, starting at Askham, near Penrith.

Temperatures of -7°C and treacherous patches on the route saw the race reduced from 43 to 26 miles. But even the reduced course involved 5,282 feet of climbing and Taylor put in an exceptional run to complete the course in 5:06:45, 56th overall out of more than 200 finishers.