RADCLIFFE'S Fiona Lynch battled brutal conditions to finish third Vet-40 when she took to the fells last weekend.

She faced terrible weather in the 24-mile Trigger Race from Marsden to Edale in the Peak District.

Lisa Carter also took on the route, which covers 4,500 feet of ascent, where runners have to navigate over Black Hill, Bleaklow and Kinder, visiting the three trig points.

Lynch said: “It was brutal in every way. It's a tough race on a good day with lots of challenging terrain and navigation is really important as GPS is not allowed.

“The visibility was bad and the wind was so strong that the water from Kinder downfall was coming back up over the cliff, turning to hail and hitting us.”

Despite a strong effort, Carter was timed out at 28k at Snake Pass after taking the wrong route but said she enjoyed the experience even with the bad weather.

Both runners praised Edale Mountain Rescue for marshalling the check points in the awful conditions

Chris Whittaker celebrated his birthday with an excellent sixth place at the Tatton Park 10k.

He ran through a wall of wind to clock 37mins 53secs and also finished second vet-35 in the race which attracted nearly 700 runners.

Meanwhile, Sarah Oxley headed to Yorkshire for the Brass Monkey Half Marathon which started and finished at York Racecourse. She ran 2:26:23 in dry but windy conditions and received an unusual wooden medal.

Away from the weekend’s racing, the club’s winning ladies received their prizes from the recent North of England 10k Championships at Ribble Valley.

In a classy field which included GB runners, the ladies' team of Lynch, Katie Percival and Jenny Yates finished third.

They were presented with their bronze medals at Radcliffe Leisure Centre, where the club is based, by Northern Athletics executive member Ken Smith.

He also presented £15 vouchers to Lynch, Yates and Paula Abernethy who were the winning vets team.

Meanwhile, Amanda Callan, Amanda Darbyshire and Ian Hopkinson have gained their British Athletics assistant coach qualifications.

The trio train the club’s growing junior section which meets at Derby High School in Bury at 7pm on Mondays.

The club is also delighted with the news former president and coach Terry Nortley is to be honoured on the Spirit of Sport sculpture at Middlebrook in Bolton.

Nortley, who died in November 2011 aged 82, is among 75 new people from Bolton who will be added to the towering sculpture in recognition of their outstanding contribution to sport.