Sandwiched between Tuesday night’s thunderstorms and Thursday’s heatwave, the conditions for last week’s Fellside Fell Race were just about perfect.

The eighth race in the Cumberland Fell Runners club championships saw 23 CFR runners make up nearly a quarter of the field.

The race is organised by neighbouring club Northern Fells and starts from the Fellside hamlet near Hesket Newmarket.

In the ladies, first back for CFR was Lucy Stobbart, demonstrating her fine uphill form to finish 31st overall and fourth lady.

The race was won in 63:37 by Ribble Valley runner Nichola Jackson.

Tracy Park found the course to her liking to win the over-50s ladies category.

Jennie Chatterley continued her fine form to finish third over-40s lady and must have her sights set on winning the ladies’ club championship with only four races to go.

Ann Cummings produced another good performance and has just about secured the over-55s’ trophy.

For the men, Ben Opie finished in a creditable ninth place to be first CFR to return, in under 59 minutes. The race was won in 52:39 by Max Wainwright, running for the Dark Peak Fell runners, with youngster Noah Hurton from the Eden Valley club just pipping Sam Stead, of Keswick.

Next back for CFR was Huw Jack Brassington just squeezing under the hour mark in 11th place.

Tom Noonan, racing his first fell race, demonstrated great potential with a fine 17th place in 63 minutes.

Sean Pollen finished a creditable 25th and looks likely to improve with more experience.

Mike Harrison continues to dominate the over-45s class and is now leading the Cumberland Cup – the award for the most points scored in all 12 races.

His 31st place in the Fellside race took him well clear. In the over-50s class, Paul Jennings closed the gap with a decisive margin over his club rivals. Neil Sidaway secured his third set of full points in the over-55s. Jack King put in a fine performance to claim the over-70s points, finishing in a remarkable 92 minutes.