Richard puts best foot forward for Harriers in top five finish

Many races and parkruns fell foul to Storm Darragh as conditions were rendered unsafe for runners and indeed volunteers, so this weekend Horwich Harriers didn’t see too much action as races across the region were cancelled, writes Steve Thomasson.

However, the conditions had calmed down enough in Blackburn as Richard O’Reilly continued his return from knee troubles with the Blackburn 10K on a twisty town centre course that featured a stadium start and finish at Ewood Park. O’Reilly finished in a fine 41:50, coming home fifth in the V55 age category.

Nick Leigh took part in the Beacon Bash which starts and finishes at Appley Bridge. This was over a course that was just over 20 miles long and had over 2,300 feet of ascent. Leigh found the muddy conditions very much to his liking and came home as the winner by almost four minutes, winning in 2:37:59 and was first out of over 250 finishers.

Most of this weekend’s running came from the juniors as five Horwich Harriers went over to Sportcity to compete in the Sale Indoor Open.

It proved to be a rewarding day in the 60m races as all three Horwich runners achieved personal bests whilst competing above their usual age groups. Alistair Sharrock came second in his heat and recorded 7:26 in the U20 60m, taking nearly a quarter-of-a-second off his previous best of 7:50.

Joel Ige stormed to victory in his U17 60m heat, winning by a quarter-of-a-second in 7:33 and taking 0.07 off his previous best time in the process. Finally, Oscar Burke came first in the U15s 60m in a time of 7:83, showing his power from the longer sprints transferred well to the shorter events.

Later on, during the same event, the 300m races also saw some fine performances. Alistair Sharrock won by over three-quarters of a second in an excellent time of 37:04. Archie Parker took part in his first race ever over the 300m distance and competed well coming fourth in 45:35, and Sarah Lawman also took part in her first 300m race, coming second in her heat in a time of 47:38.

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.