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Still feeling some life in his legs after Saturdays Cross Country Championships Tommy Harrison lined up at the start line of the Through The Villages race on Sunday 7th November. Starting and finishing at The Dresser’s Arms Wheelton 275 runners made their way through a tough 8.5 mile course taking in Brinscall, Abbey Village and Withnell.

Taking in lots of races at the moment and in some of the best form of his life Tommy turned it into something of a procession and stormed round winning in a time of 48 mins 41 secs. He was a minute and half clear of second spot !

Seasoned Harriers campaigners in Mark Wolstencroft and Chris Pickford from Bolton Harriers also made their way to Wheelton and both ran strongly. Mark has an incredible ‘engine’ and motored round in typical fashion coming home 18th in a time of 54 mins 28 secs. ‘Big Chris’ Pickford made a welcome return in the famous blue vest after suffering for quite a while now with niggling injuries. He will come out of the race in better shape for a top 40 finish in a time of 57 mins 55 secs.

Tommy commented from the victory podium “It went really well for me – I just got in a solid rhythm from the start and it was enough to pull away from the chasing pack on the second hill. By the time I got to Abbey Village I was well clear and could just concentrate on getting home. Felt better Sunday than Saturday which was weird  and Villages is a tough race – it’s like 7 hills on steroids (7 hills is a tough run between Bolton and Bury).  Mark and Chris ran well…Mark finished really strong and came flying down the last hill to the finish.  It was nice to see Big Chris back in club colours as he has been missed around the group”.

Partners Will Tomlinson and Heather Brown may have made history in Bolton Park Run on Saturday 6th November. Both recent recruits to Dave Shaw’s Harriers group are they the first couple to win by gender in its history ? Will stormed home in 18 mins 27 secs and Heather was first lady in 20 mins 54 secs. Will was the only runner in sub 19 mins. Heather continued her fine form from the Rochdale 10k and  Manchester Marathon proving her strength as a great all rounder. This Parkrun was made even more notable by the fact that five out of the first six were from Bolton Harriers. Sully Badat continues to shine with second place and a pb of 19 mins 10 secs. Sully has improved by over a  minute in just the last month at Bolton Parkrun. Joe Grisdale, from the same Dave Shaw stable as Will and Heather, was not far behind in third spot with another sub 20 mins run. Rachel Bailey was second lady and 6th overall with yet another solid run of 21 mins 13 secs. Other notable harriers runs were provided by Gary Porteous in 23 mins and another sub 24 mins run from young Lily Philbin.

New recruit to Harriers Endurance Group Caroline Mullineaux made an excellent start on her ‘Blue Vest’ debut. 

‘Caz’ made the short journey to Tatton Park on Sunday 7th November. This  gritty lady, who works in Insurance, made it her policy to obtain a new pb and duly eclipsed her best Half Marathon by over 18 minutes ! She came home in 1 hour 42 minutes and was 5th in her age category and 18th overall by gender. A great performance in a field of over 760 runners.

She commented after the race ” I am really pleased with that. I haven’t been at the club for very long but  Bolton Harriers is a really great club and everyone is so friendly.  The structure to the training sessions is well balanced and you can feel yourself Improving week on week”.

Sunday 24^th October saw the Liverpool Rock n Roll Marathon and getting down to the beat was Bolton United Harrier  Phil Hardman.

Phil had been training by way of sixty  miles per week for three months before. Two weeks before he pounded out  70 miles, and the last bigger run was the Manchester Half Marathon which he did in 1 hour 21 minutes.

During the taper down period he came up with a super  Manchester Park run in 17mins 20 secs,  but then picked up an injury due to trying new trainers.

Phil  was expecting around 2.55 but was running with ankle pain and from the 17th mile was in major discomfort.  He  was extremely relieved to even finish and grab  a time of 3 hours 7 mins. He commented “I thought I was going to have to withdraw the night before so I am more than  happy with that”.

Club 2021 Ironman Ryan Kirkman headed to Liverpool at the weekend for the Rock n Roll series of races. In absolute top form at the moment Ryan seems to clock a PB in everything he enters at the moment. The 10K event was no exception and he came home with a best of 37 mins 21 sec. He stated ” It was a brilliant event but probably my last major event of the year. I will have a few weeks off and start the Ironman prep again”. Ryan was a bike puncture off getting under 12 hours in Ironman and seems determined to make amends next time.
Peter Ledson, a new recruit to Aidie Costello’s Endurance Group, headed back home to Liverpool also to take his part in the Rock n Roll Half Marathon. The Bolton University student completed it in a super time of 1 hr 34 mins. Peter has made quite an impression in his first few weeks training at the club and is yet another who can only improve.

Turbo Tommy Harrison got into gear at last weeks Cheshire 10k, but went into overdrive at the Leeds Abbey Dash this weekend. He clocked 32 mins 43 secs and the ever modest Harrison commented “It went well but was a little disappointed (always am) as I was so close to a PB. It was only the third time I have gone sub 33 so I will take that any day”.

Bolton Harriers took a small but competitive team to the 2021 Gin Pit 5 at Tyldesley, with two members venturing onto the course for the first time and two veterans of previous events.

Thankfully the days’ rain abated during the event, keeping conditions somewhat favourable underfoot.

Rachel Bailey performed strongly once again, retaining her title as first lady, holding off the two-pronged challenge from Ramsbottom Running Club and finishing in 34mins 25 secs. No stranger to the winners spot this girl just goes from strength to strength and is going to need a bigger trophy/medals cabinet. 

Thomas Gore making his debut at this race, described how he took things steady on the first lap and then once he had the lay-of-the-land powered ahead on the second larger loop, coming home first for the club in 12th position with a time of 34mins 11 secs. Tom, a plasterer by trade, was building on his excellent results in the Manchester Marathon and at the Red Rose Cross Country and seems able to deal with all surfaces smoothly.

Another debutant, Dominic Sohor finished in 35 mins 7 secs (20th position) and said, “I was keen to tackle the Gin Pit 5 after other club members had described it as ‘a cracking race’ and ‘a total mud bath’. Thankfully I managed to stay upright despite wearing wildly inappropriate shoes.”

Rounding out the men’s team was Mark Garner (37th position) who has been entering lots of races  of late and finished strongly surging past his rivals on the final slope, finishing on 38mins 2 secs; cementing the men’s team’s position of 3rd overall.

Bolton’s ‘Queen of Country’  Laura Lombard signalled a return to form in the 10k Winter Hill Mast Bast race Sunday 24th October. Laura is the Female holder of the Red Rose Cross Country title and already has points in the bag with a runners up spot in the first event this season. Like HRM she showed she is in no mood to abdicate and does look to be in the kind of form to retain her title. She came up with a typically  gritty Ladies win with a time of 53 mins 28 secs in a tough as they come 10k.

She commented after the race ” It was a lovely, friendly event and we are lucky to have such scenery on our door step. I love running near the mast. It makes you feel alive when you are up at the top in the open because it’s pretty exposed. I enjoy plugging away getting up the climbs but I’d like to be better at running down hill. One of the runners bunny hopped the gates which entertained me but I decided I’d better use the normal method! The bog section got the better of me and briefly swallowed me up. The race was to raise funds for Bolton Mountain Rescue and they put on cake for everyone afterwards. They supported our cross country event last weekend at Leverhulme Park. A pretty fun way to spend a Sunday morning” !

Sunday 16^th October saw  three of our finest 10k runners take their starting positions at Arley Hall. Officially one of the fastest 10k races in the UK on flat traffic free roads in the Cheshire countryside.

Danny Shaw has been in storming form this year taking advantage of being under the tutelage of namesake Dave and training with his excellent group at Bolton United Harriers. An accountant who unfortunately has had to move with work to London recently but is still competing in the famous Blue Vest. He was previously a hockey player who never really committed to running until Covid hit. He absolutely stormed home in 32 mins 10 secs and obliterated his previous pb by over 4 minutes !

Tommy ‘Gun’ Harrison was the next Harrier over the line with his best run for a few years in 33 mins 9 secs. Tommy is ‘mister consistency’ at the Bolton club and always seems to be there or thereabouts at the sharp end of a race. This eminently likeable young man is obviously getting  closer to his best and is next up at the Leeds Abbey Dash.

Just behind Tommy  was the versatile Martin Reid. Martin takes great pride in representing the club and has been an integral part of the Harriers squad in our Senior League Team.  Scientist Reid has certainly been experimenting with distances this year and found the right formula coming home in a solid time of 33 mins 32 secs. He feels he could have done better but was suffering with a heavy cold, coach Dave Shaw pointed out. Dave thought Martin ran a very commendable race in the circumstances.

Magnificent running by all three of the guys and the club send its congratulations.

Good turnout for our home cross country race on Saturday. The club would like to thank the following for their efforts in running for our club:

Josh Grundy, Mathew Wood, Benjamin Davies, Max Preston, Ted Ratcliffe, Emily Wood, Jasmine Greenhalgh, Freya Lombard, Nathaniel Knowles, Michael Ratchford, Scarlett Thompson, Jessica Swales, Cerys Jones, Alice Yoxall, Ruby Erzan-Essien, Lily Philbin, Hannah Swales, Laura Lombard, Caroline Mullineaux, Cherry Collison, Mark Wolstencroft, Thomas Gore, Mark Garner, Rick Scaife and Dominic Sohor.

We had a few top five finishes for the club in the Under 11 boys, Under 17 women and Ladies Vets.

Individually our own Laura Lombard was runner up in the Ladies and winner of the Ladies Vets. Many congratulations to Laura.

One of our newer recruits Dominic Sohor sent the following description:

“This was my first attempt at cross country and it was something of a shock to the system. Thankfully the favourable weather made the stream crossing more innocuous than expected. However, the hills remained pretty obnoxious of course, and the coaches’ encouragements of “rhythm, rhythm, rhythm” and “keep those arms going” as I dragged myself to the top kept my mind on the job, although I did end up spending the rest of the lap recovering. Big thanks to my clubmates for marshalling and it was a great help being urged on at every turn throughout the course. As I said to Scott as I passed him on the last lap, “Never again!” …Now when’s the next fixture?”

The club would like to thank Gail Harrison for organising the event and all our marshals. She said “Just wanted to say a big thank you to everyone who was able to help out. The afternoon was a great success and it’s great to see the club hosting events again. Well done to all the runners as it’s a tough course”.

Some action shots sent on the day:

Some action shots sent on the day:

Commercial Property Solicitor Heather Brown continued her fine form and progress with a super time of 3 hrs 13 mins to make her first Bolton Harrier back in the Manchester Marathon. Heather is a fairly new recruit to Coach Dave Shaw’s group but has quickly established herself as an enthusiastic regular attendee to training. After being first lady back in the Rochdale 10k in August this legal eagle proved she can soar to new heights over the much longer iconic distance of a marathon.

Nigel Brodrick and Thomas Gore, both members of  Aidie Costello’s  Endurance Group at Harriers, also impressed coming home in 3 hrs 28 mins. This was a pb for new member Nigel who has looked good in his initial training sessions at the Bolton club.

Rachel Bailey showed how immensely versatile she is with an exemplary 3 hrs 45 mins. This talented young lady  has been running all distances for the team this year from  400 metres upwards and is a club rising star.

Scott Bracey was making his marathon debut and had the misfortune to suffer calf pain at the 10 mile mark. Undeterred this gutsy club member gritted his teeth and battled on home in just under 4 hours. He said “it was my first run at anything like this distance, the crowds were amazing and kept me going despite my injury. It was also nice to see some fellow club members  cheering me at the finish line. Overall  a great event and a memory I will always cherish”.

Mark Garner is another recent recruit to the ‘Blue Vests’ and has been wearing the colours with pride in all sorts of events this year from road running to fell running. He has enthusiasm in spades but let it get the better of him and set off as if he was in a 10k! He inevitably ran out of steam early on but battled through gamely in 4 hrs 42 mins. He will come back all the wiser.

Hannah Edwards has not been able to do the required training for an event like this but showed how courageous she is by taking her position at the start line. She has proved in the past she can break the 4 hour marathon mark but had to settle for 4 hours 49mins this time. This likeable young tri-athlete will come back all the stronger for it.

In the Half Marathon the club had a single entrant In 2021 Ironman Ryan Kirkman. Another member of the Endurance Group at Harriers, he has been absolutely flying in training recently and came up with a mighty pb of 1 hour 24 mins. He commented “I am feeling so good at the moment and really enjoying my running. I am in a great place and of the mindset now that  I can improve with every single training session and race I take part in”.

Following their impressive qualification for the National Road Relays finals in Sutton Coldfield, the Bolton Harriers relay team took to the road on 9 October to compete against the best teams in the country.

Unusually for the time of year the weather was reasonably warm, dry and very little wind, perfect conditions for running.  

With 79 teams competing, the downhill start was chaotic, with accountant Danny Shaw leading off for Bolton and making his debut on this course. Danny who is in the form of his life played it safe at the start, working his way through the field on the 5.88km course to bring Bolton home at the end of the first leg in 53^rd place in a great time of 18:38. Taking over for the second leg was Bolton’s star runner Jonny Kay, who, having run this course several times in previous years, obliterated his previous best time, coming home in 18:00 and elevating the team to 35^th place.

Taking over for the third leg was science teacher Martin Reid who having turned 40 on the day of the qualifiers had recovered from his celebrations to record a time of 19:33 and at the halfway stage leave the team in 41^st place. Representing Bolton in the fourth leg was the first of two recent Harriers recruits to the team, Will Tomlinson completed the course in a great time of 21:17 and the team placed in 55^th position. Will and Bolton’s fifth leg runner Jordan Brophy are making rapid progress since joining Dave Shaw’s training group and are destined to be future stars for the club. 

Jordan Brophy ran the fifth leg in a very creditable time of 22:45 handing over to Bolton’s veteran final leg runner David Chrystal in 64^th place. David, coming back from a long period of ailments and erratic training had been drafted into the team for the final. He made a valiant effort, but the years and interrupted training took their toll with him completing his lap in a time of 24:21 and a final team position of 72^nd.

The team had a great day and travelled home safe in the knowledge that they had given their all representing Bolton Harriers on the national stage in the blue riband road relay event of the annual athletics calendar. 

A brilliant turn out at in Sundays sports hall competition. Lots and lots of very happy young athletes and some great performances. Gwylim Jones, as ever, organised it brilliantly. These kids are  the future of the club and doing a fantastic job of representing Bolton Harriers. The club would like to thank them all for competing.

Photos of some of our young hopefuls:

Sunday 3^rd October saw the London Marathon resume after Covid and Bolton Harriers had three representatives.

Matt Atkinson ran a great race and came home in 3;15;26. Matt is in training with Dave Shaw’s group at the Harriers, and has also been  pounding the roads and trails round Harwood in recent months to supplement his assault on the marathon. He said “It went great and I  paced it fairly well. Nice end to the training and doubt there will be more marathons now. Support from the crowds was immense and helped all the runners push onwards. Well run event on the whole. Just glad it’s done with after 18months of waiting and training and am feeling very satisfied !”

Adrian Costello coaches Harrier’s Endurance Group and had been working  really hard in preparation for London. He came back with a time of 4;21;51.  He commented “The absolute highlight for me was raising more than £2300 for Children With Cancer thanks to all my kind sponsors. It’s a charity I’ve been involved with for a few years now and every donation makes a difference. The marathon was my 4th race in 4 weekends!  After the Half Ironman, Swim Serpentine 2 Miles and Manchester 10K. I’ve always wanted to run London and it was an amazing race. Great crowds! Not my fastest marathon but definitely my favourite. Now, time for a rest.”

Beka Millington is part of a tough and talented bunch of ladies in Harrier’s Endurance Group. Events during the race did not go as she would have liked and explained “it was an amazing and awful day in equal measure! I wanted to run a 3:45 and was bang on pace until halfway round… then a combination of factors… my nutrition wasn’t quite right, I was really dehydrated, and then my hamstring started to play up. I rang my partner Josh and sobbed just after the halfway mark but told myself I had to finish. I was running in memory of my next door neighbour so that kept me going! I ditched my pace bands and changed my watch so I couldn’t see my time and just dug deep and focused on getting through it. I think it’s my slowest ever marathon and I absolutely bawled when I crossed the finish line to the point that a couple of other runners asked if I was ok.”

Congratulations to all three and thank you for representing Bolton Harriers in such an iconic race.

Bolton Harriers kicked off the Red Rose cross country season with a visit to Leigh on Saturday 2^nd October. Despite the rain the very flat course remained predominantly mud free and was a great introduction to CrossCountry running.

The under 11 boys team finished 5th led home by Leo Moreton Derain finishing a superb 3rd. His team mates were Joshua Grundy (21st), Benjamin Davies (25th), Matthew Wood (29th), Maximilian Preston (36th) and Ted Radcliffe (45th).

The Under 11 girls were next out on the 2km course. Emily Wood came storming home in 10th followed by cross country debutant Freya Lombard (32nd) and Jasmine Greenhalgh (59th). Jasmine was making her cross Country debut under the proud eye of Grandad and Coach Gwylim Jones , who did a sterling job as ever supporting and cheering on the athletes.

In the Under 13s Nathaniel Knowles ran brilliantly breaking into the top 10 for the first time. Alexander Preston finished 14th and Micheal Ratchford in 28th brought the boys team home in 6th.

Scarlett Thompson produced a wonderful run in the under 13 girls finishing 10th with team mate Cerys Jones in 48th.

Ruby Erzan-Essien ran strongly in the Under 17 womens race finishing in 2nd and cheered on by proud Dad Atto. Lily Philbin enjoyed a return to cross country running finishing 9th with great family support.

In the Ladies race Bolton’s Women impressively all finished in the top 11 with Laura Lombard placing 2nd, Rachel Bailey 8th and Katie Percival in 11th. Unfortunately  with no fourth counter they were unable to field a team.

The Bolton men ran solidly in their race many of them new to cross country and finished 6th team. Robert Short ( Running Mayor of Bolton) was first home in 36th. Joe Grisdale and Jordan Brophy packed nicely in 39th and 41st. Thomas Gore finished 50th with Joshua Lee in 54th, Richard Scaife 82nd and Mark Garner 104th.

Bolton Harriers host the next fixture at Leverhulme park on Oct 16th where conditions are sure to be muddier and more cross country like, not to mention the infamous river crossing! 

Congratulations to the Harriers youngsters who made the journey to Warrington Open  Track and Field meeting On Saturday 25^th September.

In the Under 9 girls Aime Brogan was 3rd in the 75m and 2nd in the 600m. She followed this up with a  Standing Long Jump of 1 m 41cm to take 2^nd spot.

Jasmine Greenhalgh also ran in the 75m and 600m and then threw the Soft Javelin 3m 36cm.

Charlotte Davies was 6th in the 75m.

In the  Under 11 girls Zia Isherwood ran in the 75m in 12.4s and was  6th in the600m.

As for the Under 13 girls Cerys Jones ran the  100m in 20.7s and was 6^th in the 800m. She then followed up with a  Javelin throw of 5m 67 cm.

In the  Under 11 boys Joshua Grundy ran a fine race to win the  75m in 11.6s and was runner up in the 600m.

Benjamin Davies was 5th in the 75m. He then took a  Standing Long Jump into 1st place with a leap of 1m 91cm.