SKIPTON AC's popular annual open cross country meeting, which celebrated its silver jubilee last year, has run into problems this time.

Organisers of the event, which has sometimes attracted upwards of a thousand athletes, were a bit slow out of the blocks this year in booking Aireville School, which has served as a traditional base, and the traditional first Saturday in October date has been "intercepted" by a caravan rally.

"Nobody is blaming anybody," said a club spokesman. "The caravan folk had a foot in the door almost a year ago and although we can always rely on our ever-faithful army of helpers, cometh the day, we did not have anyone until July who could genuinely guarantee themselves as a team leader, which is vital to the staging of such a massive event.

"The problem with athletics, unlike most other sports, is that it is 52 weeks in the year, with no close season for sorting extras and most of our senior members are heavily involved in various other areas of the sport all year."

The first Saturday in October is the traditional opening date for the cross country season at large and whether another date can be sorted for later in the year remains to be seen for there is a proliferation of cross country leagues across the North of England, also road and cross country relay championships and schools fixtures to consider.

The potential cancellation is a massive disappointment. Apart from the sporting spectacle, the event has put both the club and the town on the map as a tourist attraction and club officials have already been inundated with inquiries.