STORM Ciara did her best to disrupt things - and plenty of events were understandably cancelled - but Ilkley's runners defied the awful conditions both close to home and further afield over the weekend.

The latest PECO cross-country at West Park was in doubt until the morning of the race but, having been given the go-ahead, there was definitely an added challenge or two to overcome with near gale-force winds and driving rain and hail.

But the biggest obstacle for Ilkley's Nathan Edmondson was Roundhay's Marcos Angel Valero Palacios, who pushed him all the way through the mud and puddles.

The pair were locked together at the front for most of the race but, when it mattered, it was Edmondson who nudged ahead on the line to win by a single second.

Dan McKeown and Steve Gott were again right in the mix as the Harriers placed three men inside the top 25.

And despite the truly terrible weather a hardy bunch of 14 Junior Ilkley Harriers also competed.

In the years 2-4 race Iris Smith was second girl and Robert Carter fourth boy.

Oliver Holder was fifth in the boys 5-6 category. And in the older age group it was a repeat of race three with Alexander Wolfenden second and Archie Budding third in the boys years 7-8.

Sticking with the juniors and at the West Yorkshire Sportshall Athletics selection trials in Halifax another strong turnout was seen across the age groups resulting in several young athletes being selected to represent West Yorkshire in the regional finals in March - U13 Girls: Farrah Kennedy-Harting, U15 Girls: Annabel Peyt and U13 Boys: Sam Bentham, Archie Budding, Samesh Chotai, Sam Dixon.

Representing the senior north of England side at the Crosscup in Rotselaar, Belgium at the weekend was Ilkley's Tom Adams who placed 27th overall in 32:31 for the 9.5km and was a counter for the 'North' team.

And the Harriers' Sally Malir was manager of the successful women's squad, with all four of her runners making the top 30.

The aptly-named Windy Hill fell race in Littleborough tested runners with a 14.5km route over the Pennine moors and Mary Jeal was the sole Ilkley representative, coming eighth in the F50 standings with a time of 1:49:34.

And on the parkrun front there was an impressive win for Ruaridh Mon-Williams at Riverside. His time of 16:19 for the 5km saw him top a field of 520 participants.

PECO XC results- Men: 1 24:45 Nathan Edmondson, 20 27:41 Daniel McKeown, 21 27:43 Steve Gott, 192 36:13 David Singleton, 204 37:06 Matthew Snow, 208 37:17 Geoffrey White, 227 38:40 Roar Leijssen 294 ran.

Women: (1 28:06 Ailish Graham, Wharfedale Harriers), 49 37:34 Alison Bennett, 72 39:46 Diane Kitchen 154 ran

Additional junior results:Yrs 2-4 Boys: Benjamin Richardson (9),Yrs 2-4 Girls: Bella Atwell-Skivington-Skivingtonn (10),Pippa Singleton (13), Sophie Leijssen (14).Yrs 5-6 Boys: Seth Griffiths (10), Harry Leijssen (12),Yrs 5-6 Girls: Lily Singleton (12), Grace Darlington (14), Emily Wood (20).

Parkruns results- Clapham Common: (1 16:56 Ben Parker, U/A) 28 19:38 Rob Cunningham 847 ran. Riverside: 1 16:19 Ruaridh Mon-Williams 520 ran. Rothay Park: (1 18:37 Scout Adkin, Ambleside AC) 20 23:06 Catherine Gibbons 151 ran. Skipton (1 16:58 Chris Ovenden, Skipton AC) 35 23:21 Tom Lambe 37 23:32 Geoffrey Howard 77 26:44.