A STRONG Ellesmere Port contingent travelled to Liverpool to battle for the 2008 Capital of Culture's honour in the Norwich Union City v City 10k.
More than 1,600 runners took part representing Liverpool, Glasgow and London, the winning city being the one with the lowest average time.
Glasgow took the honours with Liverpool defeating London to claim second, thanks to key contributions from Ellesmere Port Running Club.
First home for the club in 28th position overall was Matt Whitfield, who astonished everyone with his time of 39 minutes, 21 seconds to claim second place in the veteran 50 category.
Alison MacDonald followed in 45:53 to come 544th. Next was Madeline Bird with a personal best of 47:28 and Kevin Curtis completed in 47:55.
Debbie Hawker ran a great race in 52:02 and Nigel Crierie posted a time of 52:54
At the same time in Lancashire, Alan Durston was the club's sole representative under the burning Blackpool sun for the town's popular marathon.
Registering a solid time of four hours, 25 minutes and 24 seconds to come 298th, Alan felt the heat on one of the hottest days of the year.
EPRC's Steve Crowe, meanwhile, is sitting pretty at the top of the Cheshire AA road running rankings.
He leads the 5k section in the half-yearly table and is also second in the five-mile standings and fourth in the 10k list.
He is joined by no fewer than seven EPRC teammates, five men and two girls in the top 10 for the county.
In the five-mile top 10, Mark Dodd also makes the list in 10th and both feature in the 10-mile rankings with Crowe top, Dodd third, Simon Jeffs fifth and Matt Whitfield sixth.
Crowe's final honour is to be placed second in the competitive half marathon ranks.
In the marathon standings, Dodd, Paul Robertson and Steve Laker sit third, seventh and eighth respectively.
EPRC ladies are represented by Nicola Bird, ranked sixth in the 5k, first in the five-mile and seventh in the 10k with Alison Macdonald currently ninth in the marathon.
