MAURO Rotondi flew the flag for Radcliffe Athletic Club in Malaysia when he took on the challenging 50k Ultra Trail Marathon.

He covered extreme terrain in the foothills of South East Asia's highest mountain, Mount Kinabalu, with overall climbing of more than 7,750 feet in 12hrs 28mins.

Rotondi, who has lived and worked in Malaysia, completed the second of two challenges while visiting friends there, having already run the 21k Great Eastern Bubble Dash in Kuala Lumper.

He said: "I decided to make the most of my visit by running a couple of races.

"The TMBT 50k was very muddy and we had to cross rivers on suspended bridges made of big bamboo canes.

"We were surrounded by waterfalls and had to climb through the jungle and pineapple plantations."

There was success for Neal Emmerson closer to home when he finished 12th out of 99 runners in his first fell race – the 4.3 mile Race To The Summit in Littleborough.

Emmerson covered the course, which included 853 feet of climbing, in 35:23.

Paul Swyers was next home for the club in 40:52, Chris Paxton ran 41:16 and Scott Baxter clocked 47:05.

There was a good turnout of 13 runners at the Red Rose Cross Country League races at Witton Park, Blackburn.

Fiona Lynch was 20th overall in the women's race and third vet-40 in 22:01.

David McGrath was first home for the men, 69th in a 170-strong field in 38:45.

Other finishers

Men: Ian Warrington 39:42, Kris Lee (V40) 42:02, Rob Lister (V50) 26:34.

Women: Kate Percival 25:56, Kate Holden (V40) 25:57, Lisa Carter (V45) 26:23, Beverley McGrath (V45) 31:29.