GRAHAM Schofield, the 1996 British Veteran Fell Champion, turned the eleven mile long Winter Hill Fell Race into a tactical battle as heavy mist descended on the runners -- but his plan to win for the third time failed as six contenders fought out a hectic last mile and a half.

The former Blackburn Harrier explained: "Only two of us, Steve Barlow and myself knew the way, so I slowed it down to a training pace and relied on my finishing speed."

Rossendale Harrier Mervyn Keys was the first to make a break for home with a mile and a half to go, but after being caught by the chasers he had to settle for 6th. Afterwards he admitted that he had misjudged the finish.

Schofield realised he was beaten with about a mile to go, but 5th adds to his unmatched record in the event.

The winner in 1995, the last time the race was run in mist, and again in 1998, it was his 18th successive appearance in the event and he has always finished in the top ten. This season the Horwich Harrier's form has been as strong as ever, last week running his team's best stage in the Rossendale Relay as they won the veteran class.

The rush to the line ended with the two Under 40s first and second with Matlock's marathon runner Karl Webster shading Horwich's former Bingley man Jason Hodgson by five seconds. Third was Barlow, also from Horwich, while 'Boff' Whalley, the Burnley musician, took 4th for Pudsey and Bramley. After turning 40 over New Year, Whalley will clearly be a force in the veteran ranks this season.

A fifth veteran in the top ten was 9th placed Rossendale Harrier Thornton Taylor who combined with Keys and Gary Sumner to take second team behind Horwich.

Clayton Harriers John Nuttall and fit-again Ronnie Orr won the M55 and M60 divisions, while both Chorley clubs were represented with Dave Lee of the Harriers 2nd M50 and John Swift of AC runner up in the Over 60s. Only six ladies completed with Rossendale pair Linda Hannah and Julie Feeney 1st F45 and 2nd F40 respectively. Jeannette Coleman of Chorley Harriers was 3rd F40. Men: 1 Karl Webster (Matlock) 1:40:31, 2 Jason Hodgson (Horwich) 1:40:36, 3 (1st M40) Steve Barlow (Horwich) 1:40:43, 4 (2nd M40) Boff Whalley (Pudsey and Bramley) 1:40:53, 5 (3rd M40) Graham Schofield (Horwich) 1:41:03, 6 (4th M40) Mervyn Keys (R) 1:41:34, 9 (5th M40 ) Thornton Taylor (R) 1:44:39, 11 Gary Sumner (R) 1:46:43, 12 Steve Clawson (R) 1:46:50, 18 Clive Davis (Bowland) 1:51:53, 20 (M40) Alan Alty (CH) 1:54:05, 23 (M40) Neil Holding (WP) 1:55:43, 25 Ian Williams (CH) 1:56:20, 30 Malcolm Christie (CH) 1:58:46, 32 (M45) Peter Starkey (CH) 1:59:23, 33 Pete O'Callaghan (DD) 2:00:46, 34 (1st M55) John Nuttall (C) 2:01:28, 37 (2nd M50) David Lee (CH) 2:05:08

Selected Vets: 57 (M50) Peter Gillham (CH) 2:14:28, 62 (1st M60) Ronnie Orr (C) 2:18:16, 63 (M55) David Taylor (C) 2:19:12, 68 (2nd M60) John Swift (Chorley AC) 2:26:13 Women: 1 Chris Howard (Dark Peak) 1:55:52, 4 (1st F45) Linda Hannah (R) 2:29:02, 5 (2nd F40) Julie Feeney (R) 2:36:54, 6 (3rd F40) Jeannette Coleman (CH) 3:04:16 Champion Ben takes first place LANCASHIRE Champion Ben Rusius won the Under 13 boys race in the penultimate round of the Mid Lancs Cross Country League at Blackpool on Saturday.

Three of the Pendle club's youngest competitors also made an impact as Emma Hornsby and Alex Chew were 4th and 5th in the Under 11 girls race and Joseph Arthurs was 4th for the boys.

Victoria Rusius maintained her consistently high standard with 3rd for the Under 20 women and the under 17 boys maintained their record of scoring in every round thanks to Lee Leishman in 7th, Thomas Bennett 10th and John Riley 12th. Burnley all but clinched the Under 13 girls team title as they packed four into the first ten.

Danielle Walker was 2nd, elder sister Alexis finished 5th, Emma Graham was 7th and Leanne Whalley 10th. Amy Leeming and Emma Murray were just behind in 14th and 16th positions.

After missing the last round, Under 15 boy Chris Hart returned to his winning ways, while Michael Cruickshank was 18th, Kevin Smith 24th and Daniel Eckersley 25th.

Clayton's senior men increased their chances of winning the league despite being beaten by North Fylde.

Rivals for the title Preston Harriers finished behind Clayton who believe that third in the final fixture will suffice.

Ian Greenwood, currently in the form that won him a county vest on the fells, was 10th with Peter Butterworth 24th, Tony Chew 37th, Paul Brannon 43rd, Lee Pascco 48th and Barry Mitchell 53rd the other team counters.

Brian Horrocks in 62nd joined Butterworth and Brannon in the veteran's team, while the M50's included Mitchell, Ted Orrell, who finished 111th, and 131st Richard Lawson.

Maureen Laney was the club's highest placed runner, 3rd woman, while Anne Kelly was 34th, Sue Middleton 42nd and Val Lawson 62nd.

The men's 2nd division leaders Darwen Dashers came a cropper when they couldn't muster a full team -- a great pity as their foursome all ran good races.

Russell Owen was 8th, Nev Rickard 27th, Gary Taylor 31st and Stuart Walpole 42nd. Blackburn Harrier Ben Fish was 5th while his team mate Rachel Holt finished 7th Under 15 girl. White-hot Rebecca sets new record REBECCA White set a new championship record for the triple jump at the British University Indoor Championships last weekend.

The long trip from Bath to Glasgow proved well worthwhile for the 20-year-old Haslingden athlete as she leaped a personal best distance of 12:48m.

The day after, she took second place in the long jump with 5.71m, another indoor PB. Former Blackburn Harrier Rebecca has been the top-ranked Under 23 triple jumper in Great Britain all year and has rated third in the seniors since the AAA's Indoor Championships a month ago.

Her indoor distances this winter have overtaken her outdoor performances of last year which augers well for the season ahead.

She attributes her improvement to National Coach Darcy Cummin who assists her at Bath -- their aim this season is to reach 13m which would place her in Britain's all time top 10 and would make her eligible for lottery funding.

Her immediate target is to gain selection for the Under 23 international against France in Cardiff on March 10th, and later in the month her first outing outdoors could be in Spain.

Last summer she helped the women of Sale Harriers to a league and cup double so they become the English representatives in the European Club Championship in Madrid.

Victoria GB trip VICTORIA Gill has won her first Great Britain vest just eight months after beginning to run with a club.

After top class runs over the country in the Lancashire Championships, Northern and Inter Counties the 20-year-old was selected for this weekend's Ekiden Road Relay in Japan and flew out yesterday.

She will be running a 5K stage of the race which covers the marathon distance of 26 miles 385 yards. Success has come so quickly for Victoria that she only bought her first pair of racing shoes the day before she went.

Her coach at Chorley Harriers Rick Bennett joked: "I have told her to wear them on the plane and run up and down the aisles to break them in." County team THE boy's team to run for Lancashire in the English School's Championship has been announced.

James Kevan of Chorley, Andy Charlesworth of Hyndburn and Burnley's Marc Hartley all make the junior team while Pendle's Chris Hart, Nathan Lawton of Chorley and Lee Leishman will run for the intermediates.

Blackburn have three in the senior squad: Liam Barton, Michael Hammer and Lee Cook.

Stonyhurst student Jimmy Maitland was also chosen together with South Ribble's Peter Dickenson who runs for Chorley AC. Anne Smith of Pendle has withdrawn from the intermediate girls team. JEANNETTE Coleman, Anna Crabtree and Cheryl Pope finished 3rd ladies team as Chorley Harriers sent twenty runners to the 6.5M Parbold Hill Race.

The event was the first in the Inter Club Grand Prix Series. First Harriers home were Steve Thomas and M50 Pete Gillham. Lee-der Lee THIRTEEN Darwen Dashers ran in the latest round of their Club Championship, the Liversedge Half Marathon near Halifax. Their leading man was Derek Lee in 24th from Roy Ashcroft whose 47th place won him 2nd in the M50 class.

Twelfth-placed Mick Nester was 2nd M45 and Sandra Snape was 3rd F35, both for Blackburn Road Runners.

Todmorden's Paul Brannigan was 6th with Andy Payne of Rossendale 7th. THE date of the Fiendsdale Fell Race at Chipping has been moved from March 24th to March 17th to avoid a clash with the Half Tour of Pendle. Manchester to

Blackpool race off THIS year's Manchester to Blackpool Relay has been cancelled, and the future of this marvellous race seems at best uncertain. It is the latest of a long list of events, including Darwen's Roller Coaster Half Marathon, which have been discontinued after police concerns over safety.

While safety must be a prime consideration, clubs are becoming concerned at a trend which has accelerated in recent years.

As Stuart Westhead, Chairman of relay organisers Horwich RMI Harriers, writes: "It is a sad end to our race, but I fear just the beginning of our problems regarding the future of road races in general." What's On Mass exodus

on as top

athletes go

to Nationals SOME of our top athletes will be competing outside the area this weekend at either the National Cross Country Championships or the AAA's Junior Indoor Championships. The cross country is at Durham on Saturday with the indoor meeting for under 15's under 17's and under 20's being held at Birmingham on Saturday and Sunday. Horwich Harriers are holding an open junior cross country meeting on Saturday.

There are races for Under 9s, Under 11s, Under 13s and Under 15s from 11:15am, but please note that registration at the Crown Hotel closes at 11am.

Venue is Bob's Brew, Crown Lane, Horwich. Hyndburn's Ian Coffey has selected an Under 11 East Lancashire Team to contest the Norwich Union Fun in Athletics Festival at Manchester City's training ground on Sunday.

The team drawn from the best Sports Hall Athletes in Burnley, Hyndburn and Pendle will be hoping to improve on last year when the girls were 2nd and the boys 3rd.

The Lostock 6M Road Race on Sunday starts at 11am from Lostock Lane, Lostock, Horwich.

An alternative is Radcliffe AC's 12M Trail Race from the Mason's Arms, Sion Street, Radcliffe at 10:30am on Sunday.

Pendle Forest Orienteers are holding a colour coded event at Tockholes on Sunday. Starts are from 10:30am to 12:30pm. For further details call organiser Tom Gray 0161-766-5666. Nationals - Durham Cross Country

Sun 25th Radcliffe12M Trail

Sun 25th Lostock 6M Road

Sun 25th Colour Coded Event -- Tockholes Orienteering Sat 3rd Noon Stone-Todmorden 9M/2300' (S Penn GP2) Fell

Sat 3rd Bleasdale Circle 5M/1250' Fell

Sat 3rd Schools Score Champs -- Sunnyhurst WoodsOrienteering

Sun 4th Hyndburn 10K Multi Terrain

Sun 4th Lancs Fire Service 10M -- St Annes Road

Sun 4th Muddy Bottoms 9M/17M ---Bamber Bridge off-road, walk or run

Sat 10th English Schools Championship -- Chelmsford Cross Country

Sun 11th Gt North West 1/2 Marathon -- Leyland Road

Sun 11th Roddlesworth Roller --- Abbey Village 5M Multi Terrain

Sun 11th Pam Haworth 4.3M -- Rochdale Multi Terrain

Sun 11th Colour Coded Event -- Lever Park, Winter Hill Orienteering

Wed 14th Peter Purdy Memorial 1M -- Littleborough Road

Sat 17th Wuthering Hike 31M/4400' -- Oxenhope Fell

Sat 17th Mid Lancs League -- Lancaster University Cross Country

Sat 17th Fiendsdale 9M/2600' -- Chipping Fell

Sun 18th Burnley 10K Road

Wed 21st Vera Hirst 5K -- LittleboroughRoad

Sat 24th Half Tour of Pendle 9M/2250' (English Champ 1) Fell

Sun 25th Wilmslow 1/2 Marathon Road

Sun 25th Lancaster Series 5K Road Email Andy McAllister at andy.mcallister @virginnet.co.uk LANCASHIRE Champion Ben Rusius won the Under 13 boys race in the penultimate round of the Mid Lancs Cross Country League at Blackpool on Saturday.

The Pendle club's Emma Hornsby and Alex Chew were 4th and 5th in the Under 11 girls race and Joseph Arthurs was 4th for the boys.

Victoria Rusius was 3rd for the Under 20 women and for the under 17 boys Lee Leishman came in 7th, Thomas Bennett 10th and John Riley 12th. In the Under 13s Burnley's Danielle Walker was 2nd, elder sister Alexis finished 5th, Emma Graham was 7th and Leanne Whalley 10th. Amy Leeming and Emma Murray were just behind in 14th and 16th positions. Under 15 boy Chris Hart won, while Michael Cruickshank was 18th, Kevin Smith 24th and Daniel Eckersley 25th.

Clayton's senior men increased their chances of winning the league despite being beaten by North Fylde.

Preston Harriers finished behind Clayton.

Ian Greenwood was 10th with Peter Butterworth 24th, Tony Chew 37th, Paul Brannon 43rd, Lee Pascco 48th and Barry Mitchell 53rd.

Brian Horrocks was 62nd while the M50's included Mitchell, Ted Orrell, who finished 111th, and 131st Richard Lawson.

Maureen Laney was the club's highest placed runner, 3rd woman, while Anne Kelly was 34th, Sue Middleton 42nd and Val Lawson 62nd.

Darwen Dashers couldn't muster a full team -- a great pity as their foursome all ran good races.

Russell Owen was 8th, Nev Rickard 27th, Gary Taylor 31st and Stuart Walpole 42nd. Blackburn Harrier Ben Fish was 5th while his team mate Rachel Holt finished 7th Under 15 girl.