RADCLIFFE Athletic Club's fell runners have been busy recently.

Three of the club's members made the long journey to Fort William last weekend to have a crack at the Ben Nevis Fell Race.

This is becoming an annual jaunt for the lads, and they managed to cope well with the rigours of running up and down Britain's highest mountain.

Mike Howard came in 112th of the 384 finishers, the over-40 making a great effort to come in among runners of good standard.

There are no fun runners in an event like this - you have to be up to the task or you can end up in trouble on the fells.

Mike took 2 hours 5 minutes and 2 seconds to cover the 10 miles and 4,500 feet climb: a great effort.

In 213th place, in a time of 2.23.37, came Arthur Warren, now over 50, proving he still has the basic fitness for a monumental effort like this.

Another over-50, Brian Booth, came in 274th to complete the Radcliffe contingent in 2.33.31, completing an excellent Radcliffe turnout at Ben Nevis.

Mike Howard warmed up for the big one with a trip to the Sedburgh Fell Races on August 26th.

This one was 22.5k with 1900 feet of ascent - another brutally hard test of the runner's resolve. Mike came home 39th in 2.58.18 to finish in good style.

Radcliffe juniors Jordan Beard and James Howard ran in the under-12 race, coming in 14th and 28th respectively with times of 15.04 and 20.59.

Well done to the youngsters.