A fast finishing sprint saw him improve on last year's third place to beat Ben Tickner (Wells) with Birmingham University student Jon Pepper (Enfield and Haringey) finishing third.

Despite the overnight snow and rain, the weather was good when the runners lined up in the Headrow for the 9.30am start. The top four all beat their previous best times with the winner clocking 29 minutes 32 seconds.

The top Yorkshire runner was Andy Hilton (York Acorn) who came 11th in 31-06.

The first woman was Olympic runner Helen Clitheroe (Preston) who finished a superb 26th overall. Her time was a new best of 32-12. Olympic marathon runner Tracey Morris (Valley Striders) continued her return following a lengthy spell on the injured list with sixth place in 34-45.

Results
Men: 1, M Janes (Bedford) 29-32; 2, B Tickner (Wells) 29-33; 3, J Pepper (Enfield and Haringey) 29-44; 4, M Barnes (Sale) 29-53; 5, G Raven (Sale) 29-55; 6, J Wills (Bristol) 29-57; 11, A Hilton (York Acorn) 31-10; 15, J Smith (Leeds City) 31-24; 21, P Marchant (Rothwell) 32-00.

Women: 1, H Clitheroe (Preston) 32-15; 2, K Ingram (Horwich) 33-42; 3, S Bush (Aldershot) 33-53; 6, T Morris (Valley Striders) 34-48; 10, H Singleton (Wakefield) 35-10; 18, L Mawer (Bingley) 37-16; 20, A Gostling (Leeds City) 37-22.

* International 400-metre runner Richard Buck (City of York) stepped up to 600 metres at the Northern Indoor Open Meeting at Sheffield on Saturday.

He was a class above the rest winning comfortably in one minute 19.88 seconds.

Winners included – Men: 150m: U Hameed (Leeds City) 16.54 secs; 600m: R Buck (City of York) 1-19.88; pole vault: L Cutts (Dearnside) 5.20m; triple jump: M Barton (Leeds City) 14.60m.

Under-20 Men: pole vault: R Searles (Dearnside) 4.70m; triple jump: D Matthews (City of York) 13.02m.

Under-17 Men: 150m: J Phillips (Wetherby) 17.21 secs; shot: J Gardiner (Leeds City) 11.74m.

Under-15 Boys: triple jump: A Macdonald (Doncaster) 11.38m; high jump: C Morley (Leeds City) 1.55m; pole vault: N Cole (Dearnside) 2.50m.

Women – Under-20: pole vault: K Wilson (Doncaster) 3.00.

Under-17 Women: 60m: G Christopher (Leeds Carnegie) 8.01 secs; 60 hurdles: G Christopher (Leeds Carnegie) 8.94 secs; triple jump: S Brown (Doncaster) 10.91m.

Under-13 Girls: high jump: A Carr (Leeds City) 1.4m.