"THIS is good for the profile of the club," smiled a delighted Richard Thomas after a stunning win in the inaugural Burnley 10K.

The Darwen Dasher made an early break from a strong field which included Lancashire Champion Paul Muller and a fift strong challenge from Clayton Harriers, but nobody else could make a race of it and he came home half a minute clear.

Richard is one of the fell runners who have turned to the road reluctantly because the hills are out of bounds, and the Welsh International will not have minded the undulating course, or even the blizzard conditions.

With veteran Muller taking second, Clayton took the next five places with Andrew Hartley their top dog ahead of veterans Mark Aspinall and Tony Chew and another fell refugee Ian Greenwood in sixth.

After Craig Watson in seventh, Rossendale's best were Andy Payne and Steve Clawson in eighth and ninth. Blackburn Harriers Eric Wilson and Evan Cook were class winners at M45 and M50 respectively, while in the older age groups honours were shared between three Harrier clubs with Gerard Navan of Rossendale first M55, Ted Orrell of Clayton the leading M60, and Todmorden pair John Newby and Harry Clayton top of the M65 and M70's.

The prolific Vanessa Peacock added another veteran title to her collection as the Clayton Harrier finished second to Blackburn Harrier Pauline Powell.

Tina Lewis of Clayton won the F35 class although several older veterans finished ahead including Alison Rees of Todmorden, Kath Wallis of Clayton and Janet Pound of Chorley AC. There were also class wins for Val Sutcliffe of Red Rose and Pat Collier of Todmorden.

With 150 runners in the main race and 90 in the fun run, the success was a tribute to organiser Mark Brown and his helpers who had to re-route the course because of the current restrictions. Now Mark is hoping that it will become an annual event.

Men's winner Richard Thomas won a mountain bike, and maybe he can make better use of it than runner up Paul Muller would have done. After all Paul has already won three for his victories in the 'Race the Train!' RESULTS: Men: 1 Richard Thomas (DD) 35:00, 2 (1st M40) Paul Muller (Wrekin) 35:33, 3 Andrew Hartley (C) 35:51, 4 (2nd M40) Mark Aspinall (C) 35:57, 5 (3rd M40) Tony Chew (C) 36:07, 6 Ian Greenwood (C) 36:15, 7 Craig Watson (C) 36:29, 8 Andy Payne (R) 36:49, 9 Steve Clawson (R) 37:04, 10 Mark Theaker (C) 37:08, 11 (1st M50) Evan Cook (BH) 37:09, 12 Phil Hall (C) 37:17, 14 (1st M45) Eric Wilson (BH) 37:43, 15 Will Garner (RR) 37:53, 16 (4th M40) Graham Cunliffe (C) 38:09, 17 Paul Targett (C) 38:23, 18 (5th M40) John Roche (C) 38:33, 19 Mick Casey (RR) 38:36 Leading Veterans: M40: 6 (23rd) Dave Schofield (R) 39:15 M45: 2 (24th) Steve Green (C) 39:19, 3 (32nd) Fred Lynch (RR) 40:18, 4 (41st) Jeffrey Pickup (C) 41:08, 5 (43rd) Keith Parkinson (T) 41:11, 6 (45th) Stephen White (C) 41:43, 7 (48th) John Rusius (C) 41:54 M50: 3 (28th) Pete Booth (C) 39:37,5 (59th) Roy Ashcroft (DD) 43:44 M55: 1 (89th) Gerard Navan (R) 46:41, 3 (93rd) John Devlin (T) 47:12 M60: 1 (57th) Ted Orrell (C) 43:21, 2 (69th) Ross Jaques (C) 44:41, 3 (80th) Richard Lawson (C) 45:40 M65: 1 (133rd) John Newby (T) 55:26 M70: 1 (147th) Harry Clayton (T) 62:35

Women: 1 (13th overall) Pauline Powell (BH) 37:20, 2 (1st F45/38th) Vanessa Peacock (C) 40:51, 3 (46th) Helen Jackson (Bingley) 41:46, 5 (2nd F40/55th) Alison Rees (T) 43:17, 8 (4th F40/63rd) Kath Wallis (C) 44:17, 9 (2nd F45/64th) Janet Pound (CAC) 44:21, 11 (67th) Linda Clarkson (DD) 44:35, 12 (1st F35/73rd) Tina Lewis (C) 45:10, 13 (74th) Victoria Rusius (Pendle) 45:13, 14 (2nd F35/108th) Anna Kelly (C) 49:19, 15 (6th F40/111th) Mandy Goth (T) 50:03, 18 (1st F50/115th) Val Sutcliffe (RR) 51:23, 19 (7th F40/117th) Sue Taylor (DD) 51:36, 20 (2nd F50/121st) Christine Leathley (C) 52:10, 21 (4th F45/122nd) Maureen Ashton (C) 52:27 Leading Veterans: 1st F55/130th Pat Collier (T) 54:57, 2nd F55/131st Val Lawson (C) 55:05, F50/139th Christine Navan (R) 58:36 Fell hope THERE is glimmer of hope this week for fell runners who have had no races for several weeks.

The Coppice Fell Race at 7pm on Tuesday April 10 is not on grazing land, and organiser Ian Greenwood is confident that it can go ahead.

Registration for the 5M/1000' event is at the Whittakers Arms, Accrington.

The Bunny Run Series of Tuesday night races in April should also be on as Penistone Hill may be re-opened shortly.

If not, Dave Woodhead has made contingency plans to hold the races at another venue.

The blanket ban on all races imposed by the FRA hasn't been rolled forward beyond April 1 in the hope that a successful cull will lead to an easing of restrictions.

A decision on the Three Peaks on April 29 will be taken at the end of March.

As predicted last week, the Haigh Hall Relays (March 24) and the Carnforth 10K (March 31) have been cancelled, while the Moonraker 5M at Middleton (April 15) recommended last week is a more surprising victim.

One race which is 'definitely on' according to the organisers is the Oldham Mayor's Half Marathon on Sunday April 1.The Northern 12 Stage and 6 Stage Relays to be held on April 7 at Leeds are still on at the moment.

The second outbreak of foot and mouth at Great Harwood has once again led to the closure of Wilson's Playing Fields.

As before, Hyndburn AC have made alternative arrangements to train at Barden Track in Burnley on Tuesdays and Thursdays. Athletes not able to get to Burnley should meet at Wilson's at 6pm and lifts will be arranged.

Clayton Harriers were due to hold a Club Championship Race at Wilson's next Tuesday, and it has now been cancelled. It may be re-arranged later in the year.

And Accrington RR will be training at Highams on Tuesdays with Wilsons now closed. Pauline powers to awards PAULINE Powell is Blackburn and District Sports Council's Senior Sports Personality of the year, and she has also won their award for International Achievement.

She was presented with her trophies at Blackburn Library last Friday.

"She has returned a consistently high level of performance over a long period of time," said Blackburn Harriers Chairman Tony Wood.

"But we also nominated her because of her commitment to the club, competing in cup matches and relays even though the standard of competition is not always at her level."

Pauline has three times represented England at cross country, but also competes on the track and is a prolific road racer.

Her most recent success was in Sunday's Burnley 10K.

"I ran well, but I was a bit heavy legged as I am training hard," she admitted.

She can reflect on a successful cross country season with 10th in the Nationals probably the highlight.

In the Reebok Cross Series she was seventh after top eight finishes at Liverpool, Cumbernauld and Cardiff.

Her big disappointment was at Nottingham,which doubled as the World Championship Trials. In her own words: "I had a disaster."

On the road it has been success all the way with wins at the Roundhey Park 5M at Leeds, the White Rose 10K at Skipton, the Yorkshire New Mill 5K and the Lytham 5M.

At Lytham she set a course record, and at Roundhey Park her course record was also a personal best.

She was also third in the prestigious FILA 10K series in the autumn, which included races in Mansfield, Durham and the AAA's Championship at Bradford.

At the Abbey Three Day event which includes 10K and 10M road races and a 5K cross country, she lifted the trophy for the third consecutive year.

Fans will be able to watch her in action at the Balmoral 5M road race next month which is due to be televised.