Darlington Harriers club president Ian Barnes helped the England team win the M65 age group at the British and Irish Veterans' Championships.

He finished eighth in the race, completing the 10K course in 46.09.

Meanwhile, Alison Raw has added the North-Eastern Fell Champion title to her tally, winning in 1hr 35m on the North York Moors course near Kirby Hill in Cleveland. Paul Kelly also competed in the championship.

Alison was also the first woman across the line in the Richmond 10K, finishing in 39.09. John Best was ninth in 36.32, with Paul Kelly (39.30) and Hon Lee (40.15) also competing.

In the 10K Abbey Dash in Leeds, Alison won the first veteran's prize after finishing 11th in 36.52. Nigel Orr was the first Harrier across the line in 32.40, followed by Martin Grainger (34.30), Paul Kelly (37.19), Hon Lee (39.10) and Jack Mason, who clocked a personal best 40.41. Ron Read completed the Great North Run in 1.27.20.

Darlington Harriers club chairman Robin Rutherford completed the gruelling Everest Marathon in a time of seven and a half hours.

The race is run from the old Everest base camp at Gorak Shep at 17,500 feet to the Sherpa capital of Namche Bazarr over some of the worst terrain imaginable.

One of the biggest problems was surviving the three-week trek to the start in good health and a number of the fancied runners succumbed to altitude sickness or illness prior to the event.

The race started at 7am, with a temperature of -10c, but the biggest problem during the day was that of dehydration, which caused a number of people to fall by the wayside.

Rutherford was lucky to survive the event unscathed, but he says that the whole experience was so demanding that he doubts he will return, despite having enjoyed it.

He is now preparing a slide show and talk about his experiences and any group or club interested in the presentation can contact him on 01325 380560.

The club's marathon specialist also finished 31st in the Harrow Marathon in 3.35.31. It was the 76th marathon of his career.

Club members competed in the North-Eastern Cross Country Championships at Summerhill, Hartlepool on Saturday, December 9 on a tough, hilly and extremely muddy course.

Results: Senior men 12km: 31st Nigel Orr 45.59, 47th John Best 48.03, 76th Martin Grainger 50.36, 82nd Paul Kelly 51.22, 136th Paul Smith 56.07, 157th Robin Rutherford 57.49, 158th Steve Hutchinson 58.09, (from 206). Team: 10th (from 18). Senior women: 10th Alison Raw 32.41. Under-15 Girls: 29th Natasha Springett 18.31, 46th Jenna Read 20.25. Under-17 Women: 14th Georgina Rutherford 21.42. Under-10 Men: 14th Simon Rutherford 40.16. Under-15 Boys: 27th Daniel Purdie 15.42, 40th Andrew Smith 16.39, 58th Gary Johnson 19.11. Under-13 Boys: 62nd Jamie Rutherford 18.20.

l More athletics news on page 26.