KELLY Hamilton won the women’s race in the Beacon Park cross country event at the weekend.

She led from the front and in a superb one-two for St Helens Striders not far behind was her good friend and teammate, Rachael Fairclough, who cut through the pack like butter to finish second.

Hannah Whittaker dug deep to finish seventh.

Chris Hazeldine crossed the line as first male finisher for the Striders and 17th overall, while debuts were made by Anthony Ellis, Zoe Fillingham and Elizabeth Phillipson.

In the 13 Arches Half Marathon, Kevin Brennan finished first Strider home in 36th place in 1:34.24.

Claire Scott, having mercilessly exerted all of her energies, successfully banked the first V45 prize in 1:45.00.

Ann Johnson, Sharon O’Connell, Karl Bowles, Vera Langley and David Brisco made for a closely guarded cluster of support which paid dividends with them all finishing strongly.

In the Conwy Half Marathon, Danny Fegan finished with a fantastic spurt of energy in 1:38.00.

Katie Taggart, meanwhile, with her longstanding teammate Pete Medlicott, proved yet again a successful partnership.

She said: “The beautiful scenery took my mind off the pain when I was running up the Orme.”

Elsewhere in the Preston Harriers 10 miler, Brian Davies secured a personal best in 1:31.21.

In the Republic of Ireland at the Buncrana ParkRun, Jon-Jo Doherty broke the course record in 16:48.