RUNNING in the junior Great North Run, 10-year-old Nathan Riding from Whalley fell at the start gashing his leg badly, but picked himself up and completed the three-mile course to finish in the top 150.

Feeling faint at the finish, his mum Liona rushed him to the first aid tent where they were thrilled to meet Steve Cram whose daughter had also taken a tumble. A cut leg is a trivial matter to a fighter like Nathan, he was born 10 weeks premature weighing just over 2lbs.

Now he lives to run and on Saturday he competed in the opening Mowbray Mid Lancs Cross Country League fixture at Barrow and won the under 11 boys race for his club Hyndburn AC.

At Barrow, Nathan's clubmate Damian Rawcliffe was third under 11, with Andy Charlesworth third under 13. For some of the younger runners, it was their first year of cross country. There was a very promising debut for Chorley Harrier Tara Bleasdale, fourth in the under 11 girls race with Richard Kellett 10th for the boys in the same age group. Experienced sisters Stephanie and Victoria Snape, fresh from a successful fell season, placed sixth under 13 and fourth under 15 respectively.

Defending champion Victoria Rusius was Pendle AC's star turn, second under 20 lady while the boys under 15 team await confirmation of team victory after packing four runners in the first dozen.

Victoria's brother Jamie was fifth with David Riley sixth, Tony Roscoe eighth and David Lowe 12th. Another member of the Rusius clan, Ben was fifth under 13, a position matched by Laura Finucane for the under 15 girls. Winner of this race was Park High School's Anne Smith who powered her way to the front in the closing stages.

The format for the seniors has been changed this year with a league system being introduced. The strengths of the competing clubs are hugely differ and by separating clubs into divisions with promotion and relegation, it should enable everyone to enjoy meaningful competition. The races are the same as before but the results will be collated into four divisions for the men, three for the veterans and three for the ladies. Clayton Harriers are defending nearly all of the senior titles, and their men's A team opened the season with victory. Dave Walker in ninth showed a vast improvement to be their highest placed counter ahead of Will Sullivan (11th) and Ian Greenwood (23rd). In addition the club has two top 10 finishers in the ladies race, Alison Martin (sixth) and Tiny Lewis (eight).

A surprise package was Darwen Dasher Russell Owen, new to the club, he finished 14th while Blackburn Road Runners, returning to the league, fielded a full men's team with Dave Hammer their highest placed finisher.

Results - Chorley Harriers - Under 11 Boys: 15 Chris Bell. Under 13 Girls: 35 Amy Pedley. Under 13 Boys: 36 Matt Christie, 42 Daniel Yarrow. Under 15 Girls: 28 Gemma Fletcher, 31 Amy Grace. Under 15 Boys: 19 Michael Unsworth, 21 Adrian Taylor. Under 17 Men: 25 William Unsworth. Senior Ladies: 13 Claire Goulden, 16 Sarah Bennett, 32 Janet Chaplin. Senior Men: 65 Mal Christie, 119 Dominic Raby, 120 Rick Bennett, 133 Pete Gillham, John Townson, 212 Barrie Thompson.

Darwen Dashers - Senior Men: 41 Gary Taylor, 49, Nev Rickard, 131 Gary Mitchell, 155 Mick Huxley, 185 Sam Fitzpatrick, 192 Mick Heath.

Hyndburn AC - Under 13 Girls: 27 Claire Mitchell, 33 Anna Griffiths. Under 15 Girls: 22 Claire Mullen. Senior Men: 199 Joe Fleming, 200 Andrew Biddle. Blackburn RR - Senior Men: 153 Dave Hammer, 173 John Mitchell, 187 John Schofield, 202 Adrian Batson, 203 Mick Chimejczuk, 213 Dougie Joss.

Park High School - Under 13 Girls: 17 Louise Dickinson, 18 Charlotte Bickerstaffe, 36 Rachel Ingham. Under 13 Boys: Danny Gibson.

Pendle AC - Under 11 Girls: 13 Dleanor Markindale. Under 11 Boys: 16 Jake Farnell, 22 Joshua Sinclair. Under 13 Boys: 43 John Stevenson, 15 Naomi Biddle. Under 15 Boys: 23 Mark Bridge. Under 17 Men: 16 John Riley, 18 Chris Rusius, 26 Thomas Bennett. Under 20 Ladies: 17 Katie Trickett. Senior Men: 26 Bryce Butterworth, 72 Mark Doney, 112 John Rusius, 125 John Ramsbottom.

Clayton Harriers - Senior Ladies: 15 Alison Smith, 22 Sue Middleton, 45 Carol Campbell. Senior Men (A Team): 26 Andy Payne, 30 Paul Shackleton, 32 Jason Harbour (vet 40), 43 Peter Butterworth, 70 Brian Horrocks, 79 Ian Robinson, 89 Peter Booth (vet 50), 63 Roger Hargreaves, 86 Dave Scott, 99 Barry Mitchell.

Converted for the new archive on 14 July 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.