ILKLEY's Euan Brennan produced a superb performance to take seventh place in the under-20 race at the Liverpool Cross Challenge on Saturday.

The event doubled up as the trials for the European Cross-Country Championships, so the quality of the field was extremely high.

Over 150 runners took part, and it was won by Jake Heyward (Cardiff AAC) in a time of 19 minutes and 41 seconds.

Earlier this year Welsh athlete Heyward was fourth in the 1,500m at the World Junior Athletics Championships and also ran the third-fastest 1,500m time by a British under-20 to move above Olympic great Steve Cram in the all-time rankings, underlining the strength of the opposition.

Not surprisingly, the 6.7km race in Sefton Park started and then continued at a frenetic pace, with Euan clocking 20:14 at the finish.

He came through strongly in the final kilometre, picking up three places, and was only six seconds away from automatic Great Britain selection for the Europeans.

The Great Britain team will be announced shortly, and Euan has another two years in this age category.

The Harriers were also well represented in the opening race of this season’s PECO Cross-Country League at Middleton Park near Leeds on Sunday.

Nathan Edmondson led the way for the men’s team, with third place (out of 536 runners).

He covered the 4.5 miles course in 27 minutes and 43 seconds, less than half a minute behind winner Callum Elson of Roundhay Runners.

With the top seven runners counting towards the team standings, the placings of Steven Gott (50th), Mike Abrams-Cohen (138), Steve Murray (139), Peter Shelley (191), Michael Duffield (197) and Robert Budding (249) all helped the Harriers to top spot in the men’s second division, just ahead of Wetherby Runners.

Malcolm Pickering was also to the fore with a time of 37:54 to claim second place in the M65 category.

Ilkley are seventh in the ladies first division, with Caroline Howe in 50th their first runner home and Alison Weston (114), Diane Kitchen (145), Adela Reperecki (159), Ros Brown (164), Alison Bennett (196) and Petra Bijsterveld (271) all scoring.

At the Barnsley 10K on Sunday there were excellent performances from both Beth Massey and Sally Armitage.

They were 65th and 87th, respectively, out of the 498 runners who took part, Beth, in 42:08, finishing second in the F45 category, with Sally (43:30) third in the F40 standings.

On the Parkrun front, there was an astonishing display from Jack Wood at Cliffe Castle in Keighley.

He shattered the record time when winning the event, taking it from 17 minutes and 56 seconds right down to 16.44 for the hilly course.

Elsewhere, Lucy Williamson was the first lady and sixth overall at Penrhyn.

Caroline Howe and Alison Weston were the second ladies home at Harrogate and Northallerton respectively, the former setting a new personal best of 21:43 which also saw her dip under the 22-minute barrier for the first time.

Results:

Liverpool Cross Challenge

(1 19:41 Jake Heyward, Cardiff AAC)

7 20:14 Euan Brennan

151 ran

PECO Cross-Country League, Middleton Park

Ladies

(1 31:45 Alice Rogers, Abbey Runners)

50 38:41 Caroline Howe

114 41:24 Alison Weston

145 42:41 Diane Kitchen

159 43:08 Adela Reperecki

164 43:35 Ros Brown

196 45:03 Alison Bennett

271 47:46 Petra Bijsterveld

290 48:25 Anna Pickering

419 57:22 Sally Wright

448 finished

Men

(1 Callum Elson, Roundhay Runners)

3 27:43 Nathan Edmondson

50 31:01 Steven Gott

138 33:40 Mike Abrams-Cohen

139 33:41 Steve Murray

191 35:03 Peter Shelley

197 35:18 Michael Duffield

249 36:49 Robert Budding

288 37:54 Malcolm Pickering 2nd M65

403 41:50 David Howe

531 59:11 Donald Macrae

536 finished

Barnsley 10K

(1 33:18 Scott Hinchcliffe, Penistone FPR)

65 42:08 Beth Massey (2nd F45)

87 43:30 Sally Armitage (3rd F40)

498 ran

Parkruns

Bradford

(1 18:06 Martin Fillingham, Saltaire Striders)

37 22:29 Adrian Bastow

332 ran

Cliffe Castle

1 16:44 Jack Wood

43 28:34 Fiona Schneider

136 ran

Harrogate

(1 16:34 Andrew Lawrence, Morpeth Harriers)

43 21:43 Caroline Howe, 2nd F

383 ran

Northallerton

(1 19:07 Steve Middleton, Richmond and Zetland)

17 25:10 Alison Weston 2nd F

76 ran

Penrhyn

(1 18:10 John Parkinson, Eryri Harriers)

6 19:03 Lucy Williamson 1st F

212 ran

Roundhay

(1 18:17 Daryl Hibberd, Valley Striders)

32 22:04 Bob Hamilton

303 ran

Skipton

(1 17:30 Chris Ovenden U/A)

19 23:06 Geoff Howard

29 24:46 Rachel Carter

35 25:18 Will Worboys

147 ran