RECORDS tumbled as an impressive crowd of parents returned to spectate at an historic school run for the first time in three years.
Barnard Castle School staged the 131st Barnard Run in murky but calm conditions with pupils aged five to 18 competing for honours.
The run and the preliminary Barney Bash heats involved all pupils from Preparatory and Senior School.
Staged annually in aid of a chosen charity, this year it raised more than £3,500 for StoreHouse, a project created by the Influence Church to help meet community needs including providing emergency food supplies.
Prep School got the racing under way with competitions for a variety of age groups. Pre-Prep girls saw Hattie Burgess first across the line, while the winner of the boys’ race was Jack Westgarth in a new course record that was 30 seconds faster than the previous.
The Year 3/4 girls’ race was won by Jessie Burgess with the winner of the boys’ race, Acer Tarn, also beating the record by 30 seconds.
In the Year 5/6 girls’ race Sasha Patterson set a new record by 27 seconds, beating her own previous best, while Monty Bowden took the honours in the boys’ race.
Race organiser Charles Alderson said: “We have some outstanding athletes in school at the moment and so course records were under considerable pressure. But it was also heartening to see the whole school take part in the run or Barney Bash raising much-needed funds for a very worthy cause.”