Classy Campbell's new course record is the stuff of dreams for Buxton AC

The race, which was the sixth in the championships, involved two short laps of Broadwalk, Serpentine Walk and Burlington Road and attracted a record number of 53 runners to contest the points.

But they were all outshone by Campbell, who smashed the record by clocking a time of 4.44 minutes to win by six seconds from Jake Fearn, with Rob Lloyd back in third place.

The senior ladies’ race was won by Annemarie Fitzgerald in 6.30 minutes, with Elizabeth Nocton second in 6.41 and Kate Philips third in 6.55.

Huge improvements were made by several other runners since the last Dream On Mile race back in February. For example, Carly Parkin’s time was fully two minutes, 16 seconds faster, putting her in pole position to take the 2016 ‘Most Improved Mile’ trophy. There is one more mile race to be run in October.

Meanwhile the classic distance was also chosen by Rob White, who tackled the Manchester Mile at the Sportcity track last week. White set a season’s best time of four minutes, 41.67 seconds, but he was just outsprinted in a very close finish and ended up second veteran and seventh overall.

Elsewhere, a rare, glorious summer evening saw no fewer than 26 Buxton AC athletes make the trip to Tideswell to contest the annual Inter Inns 5k Road Race, which takes runners over to Litton on a fast out-and-back course.

They included 17 graduates from the club’s ‘Target 5k’ beginners’ group, and the star of the show was Katie Ardern, who continued to demonstrate her potential by picking up two awards. She finished as third female overall and first girl in the 15-to-17-year-olds’ category. What’s more, she also clocked a big, new personal-best time of 22.27 minutes.

In fact, it was a clean sweep for Buxton in the top three ladies because Annemarie Fitzgerald was second in 24.20 and Shannon Booth was third in 24.41.

The race was won by Jason Bennett in 17.46, which was a 15-second improvement on his time from 2015. Two other Buxton runners finished in the top ten -- Richard Bouglas, who was fifth in 19.18, and Pete Bailey, who was ninth in 21.21.

Out on the fells, nine Buxton AC athletes tackled the first long counter in the club’s Fell Championships, Kinder Trog. The tough 15-mile route saw the runners circumnavigate Hayfield via Lantern Pike and Kinder Scout.

Conditions weren’t ideal as the recent deluges made it very wet underfoot. But that man Alasdair Campbell underlined his prowess again, returning home first for Buxton and finishing in fourth place overall, with Rob White was ninth and Richard Bouglas 24th. Bouglas improved his time from last year by a massive 15 minutes, which was particularly impressive given the weather.

Only two Buxton ladies contested the race, with Jo Bednall finishing ahead of Elizabeth Nocton and taking a virtually unassailable lead in the overall Fell Championships with only two races remaining.