NEAL Emmerson finished 14th in a strong field at the Yorkshire Marathon on Sunday after clocking a new personal best time of 2hrs 41mins 9secs.

His aim was to get under 2hrs 40mins and the Radcliffe Athletic Club runner was on course after making it through 20 miles in under two hours.

But as he pushed on in a bid to improve on his eighth place, Emmerson cramped up and endured a battle against the clock over the closing six mile.

Three other Radcliffe runners tackled the course in York, which was billed as a picturesque run through the historic city with fantastic PB potential.

Michelle Hincks clocked 4:38:57, knocking more than 14 minutes of her best time last year, and Sarah Oxley and Bev McGrath ran together in a time of 5:06:49.

Three other Radcliffe members ran marathons at the weekend.

Jenny Yates (V50) clocked 3:44:36 at the Chester Marathon in what was her first attempt at the distance. The time helped her to 17th in her age group, despite being hampered by a niggling injury.

Lucy Dewhurst ran the Chester Metric Marathon – 26.2km – in 3:20:18.

Ken Smith (V60) took on the challenging Kielder Marathon – a course almost entirely off-road around Europe's largest man-made lake, Kielder Water.

He clocked 4:49:31 and was 15th in his age category.

Mauro Rotondi and Fiona Lynch also went off round in the classic Langdale Fell Race in the Lake District on Saturday.

The event, which is run over a 13-mile course and includes 4,600 feet of climbing, was made even tougher by difficult weather conditions.

Rotondi was 263rd out of 345 finishers in 3:46:21, while Lynch was not far behind, completing the course in 3:51:34.

Lynch said: "From the start in Great Langdale we faced rain, mist and very boggy conditions. I fell so deep in one bog hole that I lost my water bottle as I pulled myself out."

Undeterred, the pair joined 11 club-mates in the Withins Skyline Fell Race in Haworth, Keighley the following day.

The 7.5-mile event, which climbs 984 feet in the Penistone Hill Country Park, was the last in the Run The Moors Grand Prix series.

Chris Paxton was first home for the club in 54:58.

Other finishers: Donna Cartwright (V40) 57:42, James Hall 57:46, Dave Rushton 1:00:35, Rotondi 1:02:28, Lynch 1:03:05, Katie Percival 1:05:38, Kris Lee 1:07:05, Kate Holden 1:11:23, Lisa Carter 1:11:56, Mark Cartwright 1:13:00.

In the Rochdale 10k, organised by the local council and run from Rochdale Town Hall, Chris Fletcher ran 48:02 to come home 80th out of 435 finishers.

Other finishers: Kirsten Cook (first V55) 55:07, Karen Doherty (V40) 58:38, Andy Wheeler (V60) 59:07. 

Flying the flag abroad, Tony Holt (56) now living in Australia, was sixth in his age group in the National Duathlon Championships in Armadale, Perth, and 113th out of 343 taking part. Lee Turner took time out from a break to run the 13km Trail De L'Escarelle in La Celle in the south of France, finishing 84th and seventh V50 in 1:23:00.