THE 39th annual Lyke Wake Race went ahead last Saturday in glorious sunshine and ideal conditions for the runners and walkers who took part in the gruelling 42-mile event.

The future of the race has been under the spotlight in recent weeks when it was feared that not enough entries would be received to make the event viable.

But, with the usual 15pc of non-starters, 39 competitors completed the route across the North York Moors from Osmotherley to Ravenscar.

A further seven dropped out at the various check points, mainly because they were unaware of the difficulty of the route.

One inexperienced competitor was missing for four hours between the start and the first check point, about five miles away.

The organisers were almost at the point of calling the moorland rescue services.

The winner was Neil Ridsdale of Driffield, who finished the race in exactly six hours, one and a quarter hours outside the record.

The female winner, and second overall, was Kendra White from Battersby. She took 6hr 28min, about an hour outside the female record.

The veteran winner (over 55) was 62-year-old Jeff Borman of Cottingham (8:21), while the oldest competitor was Brian Golding, a sprightly 75-year-old from Osmotherley, who completed the course in 10:47.

As the event is held on a handicap basis, the first person to finish is not the fastest. The first person to finish this year was 20-year-old Andrea Woodvine of Brompton, near Northallerton, who took 8:19.

Unfortunately, she was disqualified under the rules for being excessively fast, having assumed she was going to take 12 hours.

Race organiser Paul Sherwood explained that runners new to the event must provide an estimated finishing time so that the handicap system can be implemented fairly.

They are allowed to finish two hours inside their estimated time, but no earlier in the interests of fairness.

He said: "Andrea and her sister Helen didn't know how long they would take, so Helen said to put them both down for 12 hours.

"Andrea later e-mailed me to say she realised she might be disqualified, but was quite happy with it.

"The only thing they're disqualified from is actually winning a prize."

Therefore, Wayne Marshall of Billingham and Wendy Spreadbury of Eaglescliffe were the handicap winners, finishing within three minutes of each other.

For the first time in the 39-year history of the race, two women were among the first four to finish.

Female runners also made up a large part of the winning team, Cops and Robbers, of Teesside.

Paul Pearson, sports editor of the event's main sponsors, the Darlington & Stockton Times, presented the trophies.