THREE local runners have qualified for the East Lancashire squad to compete in the regional finals after gritty runs at Witton Park.

John Pickup of Blackburn Squadron, Paul Blackley from Accrington Squadron both qualified alongside Sergeant John Aspinall of Pendle Squadron at the annual area championships.

But it was the only success for the four local teams who took part in the event.

Pickup and Blackley made sure local squadrons had a strong presence in the under 15s team with the Blackburn runner coming fourth while Blackley finished in fifth position.

However the run of the day came from Sgt Aspinall who led for most of the race in the under 20s class before having to settle for second place.

It was a fine performance from the Pendle man as competition this year was as tough as ever.

The top five runners in each race all qualify for the regional finals team.

A total of 21 squadrons from East Lancashire and beyond took part in the event with 206 athletes running in five different age categories. The age categories were boys under 15s, 17s and 20s and girls under under 15s and 17s.

However despite a strong turnout from local clubs, which also included the Rossendale Squadron, local success was limited.

Instead it was the Horwich team who were crowned as overall championships after picking up a string of first places throughout the five classes while Bolton finished as runners-up.

As expected, both squadrons will now make up the bulk of the East Lancs Air Training Corp squad who will be looking further afield to the national finals. For local squadrons it was a bad day with none of them finishing inside the top ten.

Blackburn Squadron was the best placed of the local clubs when they finished in 14th position overall, with Pendle and Rossendale sharing 15th spot. Accrington Squadron finished in 17th place.

Steve Molloy, who helped co-ordinate the race, said: "This event is getting tougher and tougher each year but that is a bonus for us because it means were are producing runners capable of doing well in the North of England finals and hopefully beyond.

"Not many people realise but this event has been running for more than 30 years now and is a well respected. This year the Horwich squadron was very strong but you rarely get one squadron dominating from year to year.

"Apart from the top five finishes from three local runners, it was a bad day for local clubs. But they always have next year to look forward to."

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