NEAL Emmerson finished in a thrilling second place in the Ramsbottom Summer Mile and led Radcliffe AC’s men’s team to victory in a great week of racing for the club.

He clocked 4mins 58secs on the course in Nuttall Park in an exciting race in which just three seconds separated the top three.

Radcliffe had a strong turnout of 24 members at the event which was part of the Central Lancashire Grand Prix series contested by 10 local clubs.

Emmerson was part of the winning men’s team along with Chris Whittaker, who was fourth in 5:06, and Robert Short, who finished 14th in 5:26.

Andy Wheeler’s time of 9:11 earned him the award for the most improved man since last year.

There was a fantastic atmosphere as teammates and supporters rang cowbells and cheered on the runners who set off in waves.

Other results: Chris Paxton 5:27, Craig Norman (third Vet-40) 5:42, Kris Lee 5:49, Mark Folley 6:15, Mark Garner 6:20, Peter Cook (third Vet-60) 6:29, Paula Abernethy (third Vet-50) 6:52, Stephen O'Hagan 6:59, David Bartlett 7:07, Grace Williams (third under-20) 7:26, Vincent Ashton 7:38, David Schofield 7:54, Deborah Cliff 8:20, Elaine Bailey (third Vet-60) 8:21, Karen Doherty 8:38, Mike Scott 8:43, Lucy Dewhurst 9:07, Iain Harris (first Vet-70) 9:19, Steve Parker 9:23, Natalie Hitchen 9:47.

Radcliffe’s men’s teams also claimed fourth, 14th, 26th and 30th places, while the women’s teams finished ninth and 19th.

Juniors Olivia Whittaker, Lucas Paxton and Imogen Smith took part in the 1k fun run, with Whittaker finishing 10th in a personal best of 3:36.

Norman was back in action when he finished a brilliant third in wet and wild weather in the Howler Summer Trail Half Marathon.

He intended to treat the gruelling route over the Holcombe moors as a training run but finished in 2:19:59.

The good results continued with Jenny Yates, who was eighth woman and second Vet-50 in a PB of 1:11:59 at the City of Preston 10-mile Road Race.

Radcliffe had a trio of runners at the seven-mile Pilgrim’s Cross Fell Race which has 1,100 feet of climbing on Holcombe moorland.

Part of the club’s championship, John Wrigley was 31st overall in 1:00:48, Hayley Winder ran 1:20:31 and Sheila McNulty was second Vet-70 in 1:32:42.

Three also took on the hilly Ice Lolly trail 5k at Walker Fold, Bolton, which had 1.5 miles of uphill running, mud, stones and marshy grassland.

Peter Cook ran 27:35, Kirsten Cook clocked 31:34 and Christine Berry finished in 48:18, earning a well-deserved ice lolly at the end.

The race is part of a series which takes place every Wednesday in August.

Deborah Cliff was pleased with her personal best of 1:01:10 after getting a last-minute entry to the Tatton 10k.