HORWICH Harriers took to the track and the hills in another busy week for the club, writes Steve Thomason.

Out on the track, Alastair Sharrock pulled off a season’s best in the 60 metres at Sportcity in the Manchester Indoor Open Meeting, running a fine 7.31 seconds and not far away from his lifetime best of 7.26.

He then went on to produce a more than respectable 23.03 in his heat in the 200 metres. Some other young Harriers crossed the Pennines to take part in the U15 Northern Indoor Championships in Sheffield.

Sarah Lawman (29:59), Oscar Burke (25:66), and Archie Parker (27:67) all ran personal bests in the 200 metres but didn’t quite qualify for the final stages. Abigail Ajet took part in the long jump, clocking up 4.05 metres before doing the 60 metres where she ran a personal best along with Lawman again as they ran 9.00 and 9.04 seconds respectively, whilst Oscar qualified for the finals after a 7.85 and came fifth in the final following up with 7.84.

Out on the road, several took part in the traditional Blackburn Winter Warmer 10K which is hosted by Blackburn Harriers on a hilly course around Witton Park. Adrian Bramham continued his fine form by coming 20th overall and second V60 in an impressive 39:31. Graham Schofield finished in the top third of the field overall and sixth in the V65 category with a brisk 49:04. Manchester and Heaton Park also saw a Winter Warmer event at Heaton Park where Robert Jackson came 3rd in the 10K with a time of 39:23. He didn’t just take V50 at that event but even managed V40 at the same time.

The infamous Rivington Night Run also saw several Horwich runners go on home turf, or indeed fell, in the dark. Lawrence Pinnell did the 10K race in 1:05:17, whilst in the half-marathon, Adam MacDonald clocked up a very impressive 1:37:59 to come 6th overall and Kevin Newall did 1:53:34.

Meanwhile, parkrun saw a mix of venues and outcomes. Rob Jackson ran the fastest one with an 18:43 on Peel’s fast, flat course the day before his 10K exploits.

The Middletons went to Alexandra parkrun in Moss Side, Jason clocked up 24:27 and Janet ran 32:10. Haigh Woodland’s demanding course saw four Horwich runners there, Adam MacDonald with a very impressive 19:23 to come 5th overall, Chris Charnley just crept in under 22 minutes, Jeanette Lewis got around in 28:16 and the evergreen Gillian Smith did 36:57. Bolton’s course also found four there with Robert Seddon running 21:42, Andrew Crickmore ran 24:26, Mark Seddon hit the tape in 27:13 and Marcus Taylor did 33:02. Lastly, Heaton park also saw Sean McMyler and Tony Hesketh go around the hills as McMyler ran 21:36 and Hesketh broke 30 by getting home in 29:22.

n Just in case anyone is wondering how to get into running, Horwich Harriers also offers a track session open to all members and non-members on Tuesday evenings at the running track at Bolton Arena. Anyone can come along, regardless of your level of fitness. It costs £2.50 to take part and training starts at 7pm.