ANDY Green was an age group winner on his first race back from a lengthy absence on Sunday.

On his return to competition, he clocked 35mins 44secs at the Wilmslow 10km road race to win the over 55s age group.

Green’s time, which was only one second outside his personal best, was also good enough to place him 72nd overall, but he was not the first Warrington Athletics Club member to complete the course.

That honour belonged to Paul Bagan, whose time of 34mins 22secs saw him finish 39th overall and eighth in the over 40s standings.

Jonny Leatherbarrow was the club’s third runner home as he finished in 37mins 25secs – 17 seconds quicker than his previous best 10km time – to finish 140th overall.

Meanwhile, eight Warrington runners took part in British Athletics’ Cross Challenge in Liverpool on Saturday.

In the under 20s age group, Joe Buckley placed 50th in the men’s race by clocking 22mins 45secs while Lauren Ferris’ time of 18mins 41secs saw her finish 55th in the women’s race.

Warrington Guardian:

Joe Buckley in action. Picture by JPK Sports Photography

The club had four entrants in the under 17s age group, with Jess Connolly placing 84th in the women’s race in 19mins 55secs.

For the men, Joe Birchall was 73rd in 20mins 13secs, five places and 11 seconds clear of clubmate Joe Roberts. Isaaq Ataullah’s time of 21mins 7secs placed him 105th.

Eva Ferris was the only under 15s runner as she came home 92nd in 13mins 10secs while under 13s runner Rhys Croasdale finished 56th in his first race at this level as he stopped the clock at 12mins 26secs.