Radcliffe AC’s Ian Swan described the Tour of Pendle as “relentless” after completing the fell race in 3hrs 58mins.

The event - one of the toughest in the North West - took runners on a 16.7-mile route which packed in 4,500 feet of climbing on the Lancashire hills around Barley.

It has been a busy year for Swan who has completed several other challenging fell races and ran the hilly Alton Tower Half Marathon the week previously.

He said: “I thought I’d be prepared after races such as Ben Nevis, in Scotland, and the Langdale Horseshoe, in the Lake District, but the tour is a different beast altogether!

“The 4,500 feet of climbing doesn’t tell the whole story. There were vertical descents and any flat parts were energy-sapping bogs.”

Katherine Biddle also continued to clock up the miles.

A week after completing a 20-mile trail race in the Yorkshire Dales, she ran 2:11:53 at the undulating Clowne Half Marathon in the Chesterfield countryside.

She was also among the RAC contingent in action at the popular Saturday morning 5k parkruns and clocked 27:51 at Heaton Park, where junior Ronnie Parkinson was the first Radcliffe finisher in 21:55 and Sheila Jones was first VW65 in 24:22. Also running were Elaine Bailey (28:52) and Bev Quinton (50:17).

Mark Garner was 12th, in 21:41, at Philips Park, and it was a family affair at Peel where Skyler Parry was first JW10 in 33:25. She ran with her dad Dominic, who finished in 33:26, and her mum Sara, who clocked 41:09.

Other results: Congleton - Stephen Crowe 29:04; Ormskirk - Helen Kay 31:42; Stretford - Lucy Tighe 29:01; Whinlatter Forest - Julie Robertson 34:12; Worsley Woods - Tracy Wroe 33:32.