Team Phillips putting their best foot forward

WHAT A GREAT EFFORT . . . Dave and Sheila Phillips

DAVE and Sheila Phillips were at it again in the Milltown to Moors 10k race.

The Royton Road Runners pair recorded times of 55 minutes, 44 seconds and 1:20.39 respectively to win their age categories.

And it meant that Dave (V70) and Sheila (FV65) have now finished first in their age group in every Oldham 10k since the race was started in 2013 - a remarkable achievement.

BLAZING

On a blazing hot day, there were 62 Royton runners that made up more than a fifth of the overall field.

Leading the way for the club was Rob James, who put on a 'wheely' good show to win the race in a time of 34:12.

The victory was made all the more remarkable by the fact that he cycled 13.5 miles to get to the event, before hopping back home on his bike afterwards following the presentation.

Oldham and Royton's Michael Mannings (34:13) was pushed into second place.

Royton's men won the team prize, with James joined by Chris Lowe (first V45, fourth overall, 37:26) and Shane Reading (first V40, sixth overall, 38:06).

The leading trio of Royton women - Sophie Wood (second female, 41:51), Janet Jobey (second FV40, third overall, 45:29) and Helen Radcliffe (sixth overall, 50:43) - claimed an impressive team victory.

On a hot day, with runners taking on plenty of water, ladies captain Val Kilburn suffered more than most but battled to win the FV45 category in a time of 54:07.

Other Royton age group winners were Gail Shaw (FV50, 55:52), Bernadette Ball (FV60, 1:04.50), Ronnie Quinn (V60, 48:44), Richard Cummins (V50, 39:57) and Michael Fleming (V35, 39:45).

Other Royton finishers: Karen Stuttard (1:23.51), Angela Rogowskyj (1:19.28), Amanda Richardson (1:09.01), Neil Bradley (1:06.10), Judith Bradley (1:05.04), Carol Robinson (1:04.08), Brian Swindells (third V65, 1:03.37), Chris Whiteman (1:03.26), Tracey Hall (1:02.49), Jillian Heywood (1:00.45), Martina Naismith (1:00.16), Jill Hickson (56:15), Martin Jones (56:01), Clare Darraugh (55:55), Lisa Cummins (second FV45, 55:25), Lee Higginbottom (54:24), Selina McLean (54:03), Simon Lake (51:35), Rochelle Evans (51:46), Ray Williams (51:18), Paul Cooke (51:00), Gary Smith (third V55, 50:09), Nick Mallon (49:33), Robert Nixon (third V60, 48:56), Mark Heaney (second V55, 47:56), Ian Dale (an injury-affected 48:02), Matt Kilburn (47:26), Adrian Marshall (47:03), Dave Peart (46:15), Jason Keast (45:46), Brad Howard (45:24), Paul Anderson (45:01), Rob Kellett (44:09), Carl O'Callaghan (43:39), Elliot Stone (43:11), David McBride (42:14), Neil Brock (third V50, 42:12), Dave Emanuel (second V50, 41:38), Michael Pickering (41:26), Bernie Goodwin (third V45, 41:24), Paul Ashton (41:21), Michael Wildbore (41:19), Jarrod Gritt (39:17), Rob Battye (39:14) and Paul Bannister (39:00).