ATHLETICS: The AAA women's four-stage road relays attracted 73 teams from all over England.

Macclesfield Ladies were given a good lead off by Ann Carr who came in 61st in 17.06 for the 4.3km course.

Barbara Murray held that position with a run of 18.24 before Sally Ann Hales began to peg back the opposition with her time of 17.44 taking the team up to 58th.

Rachel Pleeth anchored the team home with a fantastic last leg of 16.28, picking up 10 places to finish in 48th place.

Macclesfield was strongly represented at the AAA young athletes' road relays at Sutton Park.

The outstanding performance was the ninth place of Aaron Elder, Oliver Walton and Jordan Swindells in the u13 boys.

The B team, Martin Saunders, Robert Black and Edmund Burgon were 29th. The u17 boys' team of David Burgon, Doug Brammer and Stephen Campbell were 46th overall.

There were two Macclesfield teams in the girls events - u13s A Team 45th (Alison Morton, Natalie Flood and Sam Healy), B Team 55th (Louise Burton, Claire Hamilton and Helen Saunders): U15s, A Team 34th (Carly McBride, Laura Brammer and Amy Burton), B Team 40th (Kim McBride, Joanne Durrant and Victoria Morton).

Meanwhile, five Macc runners had just completed the Snowdonia Marathon, probably Europe's toughest road marathon.

In near perfect conditions, they were able to appreciate the stunning scenery of the Welsh mountains, a sharp contrast to the Manchester marathon run a few weeks earlier.

Barry Blyth led the team home and was in the vets prizes. Dave Tucker found that his tactics of a fast start and hang on were flawed.

The considerable climbing in the latter half of the race saw him struggling unsuccessfully to hold off his teammates.

Macclesfield results: 36th Barry Blyth 3hrs-12min (2nd O50), 64th Brian MacFadyen 3.22, 73rd Trevor Longman 3.24, 165th Dave Parry 3.42, 197th Dave Tucker 3.47.

The North Staffs cross-country match saw Jordan Swindells and Sam Baker finish third.

Lucie Holmes was so excited at running on her birthday that she forgot her shorts and had to run in tracksters.

Macc results: u11g, 14th Lucie Holmes, u13b, third Jordan Swindells, eighth Aaron Elder; u15b, third Sam Baker, seventh Matt Corr, 14th Dean Holmes.

Manchester Cross-country League at Heaton Park, Declan Murray was 11th out of a field of 31 in the u13 boys race. Matthew Corr (7th) led the Macclesfield u15 boys' team home with Joe Burgon (ninth) and Dean Holmes (tenth).

At Park Hall, the 2nd round of the North Staffs cross-country league saw Lyndall Lohman (79th) lead home the Macclesfield ladies team with Vicky Cortvriend (92nd) just behind.

In the men's' race, Richard Thomas, running his first cross-country for Macclesfield, finished 79th with Alan Webster (128th) and Martin Cortvriend (139th) completing the team.

David Nolan had to sprint for the line at the end of the FRA relays to hold off the strong challenge of the Trafford AC athlete, just yards behind.

Next Saturday the Langley seven-mile road race starts from Langley village at 2.30pm. The 3-mile fun run will begin at the same time.

Entries on the day £4 (£2 fun run) at registration in the village. Please note that the Roaches fell race next month has been cancelled.