ACCRINGTON Road Runners women claimed a moral victory at the Adidas/On the Run Through the Villages Road Race.

Unfortunately for them there was no womens team prize due to a lack of pre-entries in this category, but that was all that stopped them lifting their second award in a week.

Many in the field of 260 would have been familiar with the eight miles and 781 yards through Wheelton, Brinscall, Abbey Village and Withnell as it was the 20th staging, but with four major hills the course is a test for even the most experienced competitors.

Accrington's team of Nicola Wood, Julia Hartley and Sarah Clarke are relative novices though with Wood having started running only 18 months ago and Clarke starting as a complete beginner at the beginning of the year.

Wood was fourth and first local in 1:03:25 with Hartley eighth and Clarke 12th.

Hartley added experience to this week's team, replacing Donna Beardmore who made up the winning squad in the Accrington 10K.

Beardmore had made a dream debut having only signed for the Road Runners days before that race.

Accrington have been attracting more women members and Hartley observes that the standard has got higher and more women are racing. She attributes part of their success to the fact that the women want to be a bit more competitive and are training with the men.

The womens race was won easily by Salford's Lisa Heyes with 21st outright in 54:14, while Gale Evans of Red Rose Runners in seventh took the F35 title and Todmorden Harrier Kath Brierley was the F40 winner in ninth.

Overall victory went to Paul Muller, who remains the scourge of East Lancashire athletes despite being in his late 40s.

The Blackpool based Horwich Harrier won this event for the seventh time in his career in 46:39.

Leading local was triathlete Paul Guinan from Blackburn Harriers, sixth in 51:00 with John Wieczorek of Accrington in close attendance, taking seventh in 51:22.

For both Accrington and Todmorden Harriers it was a club championship race and Paul Brannigan was Tod's first counter with 11th in 52:48.

Both Chorley clubs were represented in the top 20 too with Dominic Raby 12th for the Harriers in 52:52 and Eddie Reynolds of Athletic placing 17th in 53:50.

Missing from the line up was Race Organiser Terry Dickenson who has completed all 19 previous races.

Dickenson was still suffering from the effects of flu, but will no doubt return for next year's 21st Anniversary run on Sunday, November 7.