Clayton-le-Moors Harriers have won two medals at the UK British Fell and Hill Relay Championships, which were held in Scotland at the Lomond Hills of Fife.

There were also bronze medals for the veteran-40 men and the veteran-40 women.

Four members of the men’s team, Ian Greenwood, Garry Wilkinson, Dave Edmundson and Tim Edward, were also in the veteran team which had picked up the bronze medal at the Ian Hodgson Mountain Relay a fortnight earlier, while the women struck bronze with three over 50s in their squad.

To make the event a genuine test of mountain craft, the route of the third stage is not made available prior to race day and is not flagged so the navigators come into play.

A year ago it caused havoc when several teams missed their way, including three of the leaders, but Clayton’s women have just the athlete for the occasion in Wendy Dodds.

Now approaching her 60th birthday, she has just won her 10th English Championship and paired with Barbara Savage they returned the highest position for their team.

It proved decisive as Clayton finished 10 minutes clear of fourth placed Northumberland Fell Runners after Dodds and Savage had taken 22 minutes out of their rivals.

The men matched the endeavours of the women with their third spot in the veteran class good for 17th overall in a field of more than a hundred.

That was the highest finish for Lancashire and once again the navigation leg was key as Dave Edmundson and Tim Edward were the eighth quickest of the day, the team’s best.

Edmundson has made outstanding progress in the last couple of seasons and is the reigning men’s club champion as well as holding the title of most improved runner.

The veterans were a full half hour in front of their non-veteran club mates who were 40th while the over 50 men were fourth in their class.

The first and third stages are run in pairs but the second and fourth are solo, and it was Geoff Gough running the last leg alone who was the star man for the over 50s, but he couldn’t make up the deficit on host club Fife AC as they missed a medal by 10 minutes.

While Clayton were responsible for four of the six local entries, the Harriers of Rossendale and Blackburn each had one men’s team and they enjoyed their own private battle.

With each club being faster on two legs, but always by less than three minutes, there was only six seconds between them at the finish after almost five hours.

The hero was Dale’s Richard Stott who went ahead for his club’s all veteran team on the closing stage after they had trailed all theway.

Their reward was 31st position and seventh in the veteran standings with Blackburn 32nd.