Alistair takes crown from his brother

Alistair and younger brother Jonathan were soon clear of the 230-strong field.

The result was in doubt until the final stages of the tough, undulating course and it was Alistair who had the superior finishing speed winning the title that Jonathon had won last year.

The Olympic triathletes’ next major event will be the Northern Championship at Pontefract at the end of January.

Former champion Jorge Thomas (Keighley and Craven), a minute behind, was the best of the rest.

Leeds City regained the team title from defending champions Hallamshire with Bingley third.

Alan Buckley led Leeds home in fifth place with James Smith finishing seventh and Martin Gostling 10th despite lacking training due to injury. Oliver Ziff (13th), Martin Hilton (14th) and Mike Burrett (18th) ensured that the Granville Beckett trophy returned to Leeds.

Marc Scott (Richmond and Zetland) continued his excellent progress with a comfortable win in the Under-20 race.

In the women’s race, the seniors and juniors run together and it was a junior, Jennifer Walsh (Spenborough), who won by 100 metres.

It was a satisfying run for Walsh, a first year student at Durham University, whose training and racing has been reduced by a knee injury in recent months.

With Walsh taking the junior trophy, the senior title went to runner-up Emma Clayton, who beat Bingley team-mate Victoria Wilkinson.