Near perfect racing condition greeted the runners at the first race in this years Race Series.

From the off a group of 10 runners set the pace out to the start of the moorland, crossing the moor was trickier than I had thought with plenty of the soft stuff.

As the runners left the moor the racing started, Fergus Meade led from Richard Watson closely followed by a group of Dave Parkin, Andrew Halliday and Phillip Elliott-Dick, with Tony Lambert and Scott Macvicar chasing hard.

As the leaders approached the Laverton junction Richard Watson dropped of the pace and joined the chasing group of three, as they raced along the fast stretch to the Kirkby road junction Richard fell further behind as Phillip and Dave took up the chase of Fergus.

In the last 2 miles Fergus continued to maintain a comfortable lead, with Phillip easing ahead of Dave and Andrew now extending the distance from Richard, who was just holding off Tony Lambert.

And thats how they finished, the most competitive Fountains for some years. and the first seven men are all taking part in this years Race Series.

In the Ladies race positions were settled early on with Karen Pickles leading from early on and winning by nearly 2 minutes over Catherine Howlett who got the better of Caroline Lambert by 34 seconds.

In 4th place Julie Greenwood just held off Erika Johnson, Erika was first home from the Race Series with nearly 3 minutes to spare over Tonia Richardson who finished 7th overall, just 12 second in front of 3rd placed Series runner Lorraine Hiles. Last years Race Series runner up Issy Rowe pulled out early on.