BLACKBURN Harriers Veterans Road Racing Team, the 1998 International Team Winners, returned to Brugge at the weekend for the European Veterans Half Marathon Championships.

In a race won by one of the world's top veterans, Guerra of Spain and packed with athletes from all corners of the European continent, last year's team success for the Harriers was a hard act to follow and so it proved.

The course, starting in the Central Square of picturesque Brugge and winding its way out into the Flanders countryside finishing back at FC Brugge Soccer Stadium, was flat and potentially fast, but on the day the runners encountered poor racing conditions of heat and considerable humidity.

This resulted in a disappointing return on the clock for the effort put in by the Blackburn contingent and the majority of the field. Eric Wilson, the Northern Veterans 10,000 metre track champion was the fourth British Veteran home in the over 45 category in 78 minutes 08 seconds. Eric, George Woodburn and Tony Wood all made it into the first 30 for their age category in a massive field for a continental championship of over 500 finishers. Close behind came former over 50s Lancashire Cross Country Champion George Davies, being the fifth Brit home in the over 50 category with Mike Blacklidge fifth counter sealing an excellent team result for the Blackburn Club, presently one of the top veteran road racing clubs in the north.

A huge tented presentation of awards closed the day when the Blackburn club met up with former European and Commonwealth gold medallist Ron Hill who ran at the weekend for Clayton Harriers, still going strong as an over 60 and judging from the response to his introduction at the presentation, still much admired throughout Europe.

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