HELM Hill runner Joshua Jardine took victory in the opening round of the British Fell Running Championships in Northern Ireland.

A heavy fog had descended around the Mourne Mountains, with the 285 runners requiring compasses to navigate much of the 9.5 mile route.

Jardine, 21, admitted he benefitted from other runners' misfortune. With poor visibility affecting the field, a number of the frontrunners took a wrong turn on the descent, allowing Jardine to snatch the victory.

"It was an interesting race and I was not the strongest person in the field," he said.

"It was luck more than anything for me. I had been up the night before to recce the route but you couldn't see too much during the race, it was very difficult."

Jardine finished in 1:35:02, with Dark Peak Fell Runners' Rhy Findlay-Robinson and Ilkley Harriers' Jack Wood completing the top three. Jardine accepted Keswick's Carl Bell would have claimed victory 'if he could see where he was going'. Bell, however, eventually finished in ninth, one place behind Helm Hill's Rob Jebb.

Ben Abdelnoor was the quickest of the Ambleside runners in 15th, with Paul Tierney in 24th and Tom Simpson in 26th.

First lady was Jasmin Paris, of Carnethy, with a time of 1:51:49.

Catherine Slater, of Helm Hill, finished fifth in the ladies race, completing the event in 2:07:02. Teammate Sharon Taylor was the next of the Helm Hill runners in 11th, while Jenny Rice was 13th with Bianca Dyer and Hannah Russell 15th and 16th respectively.

Three Ambleside Athletics Club runners – Astrid Gibbs, Jane Reedy and Hazel Robinson – crossed the line in close proximity in 24th, 25th and 26th positions.