Manchester’s Heaton Park hosted the fourth and final cross-country race of the South East Lancs series and Horwich Harriers posted some outstanding results.

In the under-11 boys, Ben Essex-Crosby fought a course-long battle only to be pipped at the post for a second-place finish in 10mins 43 secs. Toby Yates was fifth (11:22) and Toby MacDonald eighth (12:06) meaning Harriers claimed second team. Grace Freary won the U13 girls’ race in 11:52. The U13 boys were not to be outdone with Harry Yates winning in 21:16.

U15 girl Eve MacDonald placed sixth with a time of 25:12, while Charlotte Wilkinson finished first in the U20 category (36:31) and Alice Tucker claimed the final podium position (38:34).

In the ladies’ event, Helen Macdonald was 11th and third LV40 (37:43) and combining with Wilkinson’s and Tucker’s placing, the team were third overall.

The men were one token short of making a team so individually placed. Adam MacDonald continues to run well, finishing 21st and fourth Vet 40 (34:55), Richard O’Reilly was fourth Vet 55 (37:23) and club cameraman, having past his duties over to daughter Charlotte for this race, Michael Wilkinson was 59th and 15th Vet 40 (41:12).

Elsewhere, at Helsby, the 41st annual Four Villages Half Marathon took place.

Winner of the Half Marathons North category of the Challenge Awards presented by Runner’s World, this scenic 13.1-mile (21.1 km) course passes through the villages of Dunham on the Hill, Mouldsworth, Manley, Alvanley, and Helsby and is an event is known for its community involvement, with local groups supporting the race and benefitting from donations.

Sam Fairhurst ran a PB in a time of 1:15:10 but Luke Foley was first Harrier across the line, finishing sixth in 1:10:37 and most likely would have claimed a podium place barring an issue with a shuttle bus leading him to line up at the start with a number of fun runners attired in various fancy dress.

Adrian Braham brought his fine form from 2024 into the new year with a third place in the Vet 60 category (1:26:02), while Paul Wilcockson also claimed a podium position as third Vet50 (1:39:18) and Stephenie McKee took home a PB with a time of 1:40:20.

In parkrun, there were some very large fields. Sean MacMyler was 55th (21:47) at Preston, while Jack Hardman was 20th in 20:00.

Joe Mercer won the Marple event in 17:38, and at the ever-popular Haigh Hall, Mary White was 87th (28:23), Gail Maxfield 104th (29:44), Dominic McKenna 146th (32:26) and Gillian Smith 208th (37:30).

More than 500 runners turned up at Peel Park and at his favourite course, veteran runner Rob Jackson claimed a top-10 position by running 18:36 for first in his age category and first on an age-graded basis. Andrew Crickmore was 26th, edging close to a sub-20 time in 20:06 and the Middleton’s - Jason and Janet - added to their parkrun venue collection, finishing 122nd (24:19) and 395th (32:11) respectively.

Alex Fowler was at Leyland and was 18th with a time of 23:09, while parkrunner of the week went to Killian Mooney for a blistering time of 15:23 and first place at Shanganagh.