It proved to be a case of so near yet so far for Skipton Athletics Club’s Billy Pinder at the British and Irish Junior International Fell Racing Championships at Glendalough in the Republic of Ireland on Sunday.

Contesting the Under 18 Boys event, Pinder led England to the team silver medals behind Scotland.

However Pinder was left to reflect on what might have been after missing out on the ultimate accolade, – the individual title.

Despite the event being staged in the Emerald Isle amid the glorious Wicklow Hills, there was to be no sharing the luck of the Irish, for the Skipton starlet.

Not feeling his brightest amid the warm-up, Pinder nonetheless resolutely dug into the challenge once the race was under way. After working his way through the field into second place and breathing down the neck of the leader on the arduous five-mile course embracing more than a thousand feet of ascent, he regrettably had to stop to be sick.

Uncharacteristic indeed unprecedented in his career, Billy's misfortune not only let the leader and eventual winner, Scotland’s Peter Harrison, off the hook, but moreover Pinder dropped another couple of places in the process.

However, he battled gamely to the finish to take fourth place. With Richmond's Marc Scott, fifth, and Stafford-shire's Jack Ross completing England's count in ninth, there were at lease a set of team silver medals to bring back across the Irish Sea.

Pinder and Rebecca Lambson figure as Skipton Athletics Club’s most recent England or Great Britain international selections.

They have now collectively represented their country in major championship events five times and have notably led their nation to team medals of some colour on all five occasions.

Meanwhile one of Skipton’s vintage crop of athletes Bernard Gardt, has been doing the club proud.

Contesting the Yorkshire Masters Athletics Champion-ships which were staged at Cleckheaton, Gardt – a familiar town-centre window cleaner – proved himself fastest over 60 runner in the county, when he mopped up the opposition in that age-group’s 100 metres final.

Bearing in mind that he had those ladders to hump around and climb the following morning, he resisted on this occasion to challenge for further honours.

The ever-popular former local footballer though can now proudly reflect upon having won at least one county title in every masters age-group from over 40s upwards.

As an over 50 athlete, he also won the British Masters Pentathlon crown.