Athletics: A crack team from Pudsey and Bramley beat Yorkshire rivals and strong pre-race favourites Bingley Harriers by more than three minutes in Sunday's Calderdale Way fell relay over the Halifax moors.

More than 100 teams of 12 runners contested the 16th running of the Halifax Harriers promotion.

The popular event, in which teams carry winter survival gear and run in pairs for safety, was slogged out on a sodden course over the South Pennine Moors, after the week's prolonged rain made the going very heavy underfoot.

The Bingley side took an early lead on stage one over Norland and Rishworth Moors, with former British fell champions Steve Hawkins of Grassington and Mark Kinch handing over with a lead of just over a minute on Bolton's Horwich Harriers.

This lead was stretched on leg two - which goes from the Hinchcliffe Arms, Crag Road, via Langfield Common and Mankinholes to Todmorden - by Keighley's former Yorkshire cross-country champion Colin Moore and his partner, international fellsman Matt Whitfield from Clapham. By now the Pudsey outfit of top internationals Gary Devine and Paul Sheard had overtaken Horwich for second place.

However, disaster struck for the Bingley men as they reached Centre Vale Park totally exhausted, only to find that their third stage runners had failed to arrive for the changeover, the clock ticking and their Pudsey rivals haring down the woodland to take over as leaders.

Three minutes elapsed before the Bingley pair arrived to head up to Whirlaw Common and Great Rock before handing over, still in the runners-up position, at Blackshaw Head.

Top internationals Ian Holmes, the former British champion from Keighley, and Robert Jebb, the reigning English silver medallist from Eldwick, then set about regaining the lead and setting the fastest fourth stage time of the day by over a minute.

But their four-minute lead wasn't enough of a cushion for their final two stages' runners to hang on to and Pudsey overtook them on the final section through Brighouse and Southowram to win by three minutes in just under six hours.

Keighley and Craven finished a commendable eighth overall among fierce elite competition clocking 6hrs 18min, with Pudsey and Bramley B taking 11th in 6hrs 32min.

Bradford's St Bede's filled 16th place (6hrs 44min), one place and 34 seconds ahead of Halifax-based Calder Valley.

The first women's team was from Sheffield's Dark Peak club, an improvement from third last year, while the leading men's veterans squad came from Kendal.

Calderdale Fell Relay at Halifax (50 miles, six stages): 1 Pudsey & Bramley 5hrs 52min 12sec, 2 Bingley Harriers 5-55-56, 3 Salford Harriers 6-2-36, 4 Clayton-le-Moors 6-3-40, Rossendale 6-3-58, 6 Dark Peak 6-7-56, 7 Horwich 6-9-52, 8 Keighley & Craven 6-18-6, 11 Pudsey & Bramley B 6-32-12, 16 St Bedes 6-44-2, 17 Calder Valley 6-44-36, 23 Bingley B 6-55-44, 24 Spenborough 6-59-43, 28 Halifax Harriers 7-5-14, 30 Skyrac 7-13-30.

Converted for the new archive on 30 June 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.