Fast and flat, the Thirsk 10 was completed by 741 participants in near perfect conditions.

The ten-mile race incorporates the Yorkshire Vets AA Championships and starts from Thirsk Racecourse – a fitting location for a field that brought home fast times and several personal bests.

Andrew Pearson (Longwood Harriers AC) set the scene, arriving in the winning enclosure in 50mins 10secs and a sizeable lead on his chasers. Mike Burrett (Leeds City AC) and James Askew (Aycliffe RC) followed with 52:29 and 53:44.

Training partners Matt Nowell and Will Kerr repeated their Bradford 10k tight placings with Nowell finishing in 56:37 and 14th overall, pipping Kerr’s 56:48. Bingley’s Stephen Bailey squeezed between them.

Nigel Armitage (Pudsey Pacers; 11th in 56:17), Thomas Midgley (Otley; 18th, 57:00), team-mates Kevin Ogden and Anthony Bradford (Spenborough; 57:05, and 57:27) and Quentin Lewis (Baildon; 21st, 57:37) were next local finishers. Ogden had even raced the previous day.

Keighley & Craven AC’s Amy Green was second among the senior ladies’ category with 61:29, just two three seconds behind Jessica Nixon (Gateshead Harriers). Sarah Jarvis (Bingley Harriers) was fastest of the women overall in 58:38, while fellow vet Sarah Harris (Long Eaton RC) was second overall with 59:18.

Green is one of two dozen training together under Brian Scobie at Horsfall Stadium on Thursdays, many preparing for the London Marathon.

There were fine individual and team performances at the 34th Yorkshire Vets Cross Country Championship.

Holmfirth Harriers, Keighley & Craven and Wharfedale Harriers were the top three of the women’s 35-44 category (three-to-count).

Lyn Eden (Ilkley Harriers) was first of the women’s over-65s, while Lesley Ewart (Holmfirth Harriers), Gillian Taylor (Rotherham Harriers) and Shirley Dolesby (East Hull) were the top three placers for the over-55s.

The men’s four-to-count category saw Bingley Harriers victorious with Hallamshire and Pudsey Pacers in second and third places. Pudsey Pacers took the all-to-count title with the team led home by Darren Burnley (10th) in 31:21, supported by Paul Gaile 32:05, Jim Cantrell 34:40 and Rob Samuels 34:43.