AN outstanding day’s work saw Barrow and Furness Striders senior men’s cross-country team victorious in the latest Mid Lancs series race.

The Striders edged out Division One rivals Barlick by the narrowest of margins to triumph on a tough Cuerden Valley course, while the club’s senior women’s team finished third on what was a brilliant all-round day for the club.

The women’s veterans V35 and V45 teams performed well and there were also some good results for the Striders junior runners.

Captain Phil Waite led the Striders senior men’s home, finishing a circuit of approximately 10km fourth out of 293 runners in 33:01.

Club-mates Ross Campbell (10th) Jed Bartlett (14th) Bob Atkinson (22nd) Todd Oates (23rd) and Ryan Everett (27th) provided great back-up to see them home.

“We won by the slimmest of margins,” said Waite. “We tied on 100 points with Barlick and only won by virtue of the cumulative time of our first six runners being 13 seconds quicker than the Barlick total. I have never known us be involved in such a close result.

“I was genuinely more concerned with relegation from Division One this season, due to the strength and depth of the other teams, but it looks like we may be able to launch yet another title challenge.”

Waite said their team result could have been even better had more Striders runners competed, and he appealed for club members to make themselves available whenever they possibly can.

“We once again had 11 senior men running which is one short of two full teams,” he said.

“Please if you’re available to run get involved as five lads on Saturday could have had another team result to be a part of if only one more person had turned up, put on a vest and number, and walked or even crawled around!”

The senior women’s team were led home by Phil Waite’s wife Katie, who came ninth in 21:26 over a distance of around 5k, with Lynn Murray (20th) and Jill Seddon (23rd) ensuring a top-three finish.

Said Waite: “It was a great result for the senior women too. The A-team finished third overall on the day, but second in the top division behind Liverpool (as Barlick ladies are in Division Two).

“The senior women’s B-team were ninth and are also now in the top division with the A-team – this is a great achievement to have two Barrow teams in the top division. It would be nice if Mid Lancs recognized C and D teams as we’d sometimes have enough women for that, which is amazing!”

The Striders’ U11 girls finished in fourth position, which is encouraging for the rest of the season as they look set to challenge for a team prize.

Holly Murray ran superbly to finish seventh in the U13 girls race and Harvey Cooper (U15 boys) and Jakob Nelson (U13 boys) also ran well, as the only Barrow runners within their races, which is harder than having team-mates also running.

The next Mid Lancs race takes place on Saturday November 26 at Sefton Park, Liverpool – an event that also plays host to the UK Challenge, so a bumper field including many of the UK’s best cross-country runners is expected.