A TOTAL of 21 gold-vested athletes lined up for Ellesmere Port Running Club in the latest Borders Road Running League fixture.

The round four action took place at Birkenhead Park, run over a multi-lap course of 5.5 miles.

The EPRC charge was led Graham Earlam, who clocked a time of 33 minutes and 48 seconds.

He was closely followed by a pack containing Peter Geoghan (34:45), Paul Robertson (35:35s) and Dave Nalder (35:46).

Next home for the club were Andy Blair (37:25s) and Matt Whitfield (39:13), just ahead of fast finishing first lady Samantha Jones (40:11), who held off a chasing group of Les Fleetwood (40:56), Sharon Plested (41:10) and Mandy McGonigle (41:22).

The next group of EPRC finishers were all tightly packed as Debbie Hawker (42:14) led in Charlotte Brennan (42:15), Paul Plested (42:19), Helen Johnson (42:25) and Helen Lester (42:33).

Madeleine Bird (44:46) finished strongly, just ahead of Mark McGonigle (45:11) and Ann Ball (45:55).

The final gold-vested pair to cross the line were Julia Fidler (47:03) and Nigel Crieri (47:44).

A host of EPRC runners had been due to take part in Sunday’s Four Villages Half Marathon, but the popular event – which starts and finishes in Helsby – was cancelled due to sections of the course being covered in snow and ice.