THE 30th anniversary of the Stonyhurst College cross country race went with a bang -quite literally!

For the starters pistol was replaced by the blast of a 105mm gun which heralded the start of the race at the Clitheroe College.

A Royal Artillery gun crew from the 103rd Regiment (Lancashire Artillery Volunteers) RA made sure the runners were certainly on the starters orders and there could be no excuse of not hearing the gun!

Friendly rivalry was the spirit of the day when 150 runners, aged from 17 to 68-years-old took part in the competition earlier this month.

Students from local and regional schools joined current pupils and old boys of the College for the Invitational Race', which members of the public got the chance to watch on a giant 10-metre screen after it was filmed from a helicopter.

Among the runners were a large contingent of the Devaney family from Dublin, and father and son Dominic and Anthony Wright from Cheshire, who are both old boys.

Ronan Treacy, who was Head Boy of Stonyhurst in 1977 when the Invitational Cross-Country race was first held, presented the prizes.

Mark Leslie, Stonyhurst Development Director, said: "The cross-country race has become a popular annual tradition and we are delighted that so many people supported this special anniversary event."

For some old boys, it was the first time they have been back to Stonyhurst and a chance to meet up with old school pals. Each runner received a commemorative medallion, specially struck to mark the occasion.

While it was a day to remember, the host school had little to cheer about as they finished well outside the individuals honours.

However, the girls team finished in third place overall after its five markers all finished in the top 20.

E Rawkins was the leading runner for the Stonyhurst girls, finishing in 11th place in 28.36 just ahead of R Waring (12th) in 30.07 and M Mousdale (13th) in 30.08.

E McClelland led home a batch of four Stonyhurst runners who all finished inside the magical top 20, crossing the line in 39.04 to take 17th place.

O Caddick was 18th in 39.05, E Barrett 19th in 42.44 and V MacNeil 20th in 42.45.

C Lilley of Giggleswick was first in 23.04 and also helped her college to the team prize.

In the boys race, it was runners from St Anselms and Manchester Gr that dominated proceedings, securing seven of the top 10 places - Manchester's J Gilmour winning in 27.43 - while taking the top two team prizes.

Stonyhurst had to wait a little longer for their first runner home, S Anderton finishing in 32.19 to take 30th place. C Jones was the college's second runner home in 32.59 in 39th place A Hanratty 45th in 33.23.

However, Stonyhurst runners gave their all and some spirited efforts by P Schmitz (50th place in 33.56), G Rous Eyre (68th in 35.23) and M Beestermoller (71st in 35.38t) made sure the school took seventh place in the team standings.

Stonyhurst B team took 10th place thanks to the true grit shown by six runners. P Lyons was 93rd in 39.00 just ahead of team-mates J Rawkins, 94th in 39.03 and O Coop, 95th in 39.05.

G Fielding was 97th in 39.43, J Watt 98th in 39.52 while a time of 40.44 saw m Bando finish just outside the top 100 in 101st place.

The results may not quite have gone Stonyhurst College's way but the race certainly went with one almighty bang!