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ACTION FROM THE JUNIOR FELL RUNNING CHAMPIONSHIPS

TOP THREE RUNNERS IN THE WALKER BROTHERS HILL LEAGUE PICTURED BY MARIE LATHAM

1 Tony Okell

2 Gianni Epifani

3 Ian Gale

FULL RESULTS - THANKS TO DOUG DROWN

Rose Hooton won the women's prize. Picture by Stan Hall.

The view was as spectacular as ever on the descent from Peel Hill. (Marie Latham)

Gianni Epifani leads Tony Okell up Peel Hill in the Walker Brothers league but it was Tony who finished first. Picture: Stan Hall

Phil Motley, pictured by Marie Latham in the Walker Brothers Hill League, was among the fastest runners at Ramsey last Thursday. After getting "lots of stick" for running the short races lately, he steps up to the full cross country distance in what is expected to be the biggest cross country field for years at Nobles Park on Sunday.

Alan Pilling at Peel (Marie Latham)

part of the very large field of junior fell runners in the Isle of Man Bank Championships last Saturday. (Marie Latham).

RICHIE STEVENSON REPORTS ON THE LATEST HILL RUNNING ACTION 16-11-02

A great days racing at Peel with brilliant weather again. We have been so lucky to avoid all the rain in the two rounds of the Walker Bros. Hill League held so far this Winter.We were absolutely delighted to have 25 juniors signing on for the championship and how they performed. It is difficult to single out any one particular performance as the whole field ran remarkably well and deserve great credit. Two who really stood out though were Ballakermeen's Mark Scott who was first to finish and runner-up Ryan Fairclough from Ramsey, both recording times that would have placed them in the top ten in the seniors.Well done also to all three girls who made light work of the tough course.Ballakermeen won the team prize for the first time although they were pushed very hard by QE2 and Castle Rushen. Well done to everyone.

Unfortunately we did have a couple of problems. Firstly we should have numbered the juniors to make identification easier. Secondly we made one mistake in the age groups that had a knock-on affect on the placings. Luckily for us the Brand family were out in force and they were able to point out the mistake, thanks to them for that. Thanks also to Graham Davies for his invaluable help.

The senior race was a real belter between Gianni and Tony. Gianni made all the running to try and open a good lead knowing that Tony would fly down the final long descent.Gee did manage to open a gap but it was not big enough and Tony powered past to record his second league win of the Winter.As in the first race there was close racing right down the 35 strong field making all the runners give everything right to the finish.

Many thanks to the Isle of Man Bank for the sponsorship of the junior champs and to Shirley for presenting the prizes. Thanks also to all the officials who helped on the day and to the Viking Long House who allowed us the use of their premises.