THERE were gold medals for all three of our local athletes in the British and Irish Junior Championships at Sedbergh near Kendal.

Joe Johnston, of Rossendale Harriers, and Emma Spencer, who represents Pendle Athletic Club, were both making their England debuts, while Beckie Taylor had made her bow in the same competition last year.

England won team gold in the U16 boys’ race that featured Johnston, and in the U16 girls with Spencer and Taylor.

England’s U18 girls also came out on top while the U18 boys were third as England reclaimed the overall trophy from defending champions Scotland.

All three were chosen to represent their country after successful campaigns in the English Junior Championships, although Johnson left it late and was chosen after taking his best result in the last of the six rounds in Cleveland.

He carried his recent form into this Home International contest against Wales, Eire, Northern Ireland and Scotland to finish fourth in 20:40 behind winner Eoghan Totten of Northern Ireland, who clocked 19:51 and was the second England counter after Marc Scott.

Spencer and Taylor have been evenly matched this summer with Emma winning the bronze medal in the English Championships ahead of Beckie, who bounced back by winning the English School Championships last month at the same Sedbergh venue.

There wasn’t much between them this time either, as running with the boys over the same 2.7-mile course with 1,150 feet of climb, they were split by less than half a minute.

Emma was sixth in 24:09 to be the third England counter as Beckie took seventh in 24:38.

A little further afield, Gary Priestley was also making his England debut in Slovenia.

Each year England sends an U23 Development Team to the last race in the World Mountain Running Association Grand Prix at Smarna Gora and it is the only international opportunity for athletes who are trying to bridge that gap between the juniors and the seniors.

Gary from Chorley is still a novice at mountain running and was chosen after only his second fell race – the World Championship Trial at Keswick.

The race is a point to point nine kilometres long with two climbs totalling 710 metres and with a 350-metre descent in the middle.

His basic speed helped him get a good early position with the start on tarmac, but as the climbs became steeper the three English runners all lost ground before regaining on the downhill stretch.

The final steep climb over the last 500m cost the Horwich Harrier a chance to beat Tom Addison, but he managed to stay ahead of Matt Clowes, clocking 43:34 as the trio finished 21st, 24th and 28th in a field of 122.