Category: Race Reports

Sunday 6th February saw the Blackburn 10k and extremely blustery and challenging conditions. The race was described as a friendly but challenging race starting on the athletics track at Witton Park, climbing the heights of Buncer Lane and then descending through the countryside of Pleasington back to the track for a racing finish. Four Harriers in the form of Cherry Collison, Suleman Badat, Callum Brooks and Simon Williams made the short journey up the A666.

Callum Brooks, the most recent Endurance Group recruit, has already made a big impression in training. He made his way to the race with Sully Badat and they are never far away from each other in training, constantly pushing each other. Its working as Sully has trimmed down his Bolton Parkrun PB by over a minute in a month to 19:03 and Callum has  been trimming down his PB’s on a Saturday morning at Leverhulme almost on a weekly basis to a recent 18:25.

Callum was on another running high after the race and enthused “the course was tough, we knew coming into it that it contained a lot of hills and that they were steep. Thanks to all the hill training we do at Bolton Harriers and the fact I’ve tried to incorporate more hills in my own runs to better prepare for Bolton Park Run, I felt ready for it. I probably set off a little too fast but I didn’t want to get stuck behind too many. I wanted to have my eye on the leading groups to chase and follow round a new  course to myself. The race was really good though and  really enjoyable. The marshals were great and kept you motivated. I just tried to go at my pushing pace for as long as I could and I was feeling pretty good up until 8km in, I did feel it then but I gritted my teeth and pushed through. I felt like I had given it my all  once I got back onto the track. I ended up finishing 14th out of 675, with a time of 37 minutes and 39 seconds. I set a new PB  which I’m very happy about. It was only my second 10k so hopefully with a bit more practise and training I can improve and build on it. Overall though a great race and I would highly recommend it. I’m looking forward to doing it again next year !”

Sully Badat was not far behind Callum and coasted to a top 25 finish in a more than excellent time of 38:39. He looked so fresh at the finish and as though he could easily have run it again !  Sully seems to be defying Father Time  and although now well into his forties he is still improving and therefore popping up with PB’s at  middle distances on a regular basis.

Simon Williams has been another enthusiastic and very welcome new recruit to the Endurance Group at Bolton Harriers and said “I have been running for less than a year, and joining the club has definitely helped my fitness and  confidence. It’s only my second organised 10k and I have to say I found the start of the run really tough especially into the Blackburn winter wind. The start was about 2 miles uphill which I have never done before. The Harriers hill rep sessions definitely helped me cope mentally as well as physically with that. My position in the field made for a  really congested climb with all the  runners making it hard to run at a natural pace. Once that was done I had the need to find someone else to latch onto to keep me running on the front foot. Fortunately ‘up popped my fairy godmother’ in the shape of  club mate Cherry Collison  at about the 6k mark and she paced me to the finish which made all the difference.  I pretty much gave it everything to get round in 50 minutes. not an earth shattering time,  but for me it felt like the run of my life” !

Cherry is a strong seasoned campaigner for Bolton Harriers, running many races in the famous blue vest over the years. Not only an accomplished runner but a strong tri-athlete and just at home on a bike or in the water. Despite an attempted  playful push back from Simon at the finishing line she dead-heated with him in a very respectable time of 50:23.

Sunday January 30th saw two coastal 10 mile races at Morecambe and Lytham St Annes respectively and the running gods had been kind with dry weather.

Katie Percival travelled down from her new base in the Lake District with partner and Running Mayor of Bolton Robert Short. In a pre-race interview she explained the race was part of her preparation for a marathon in 4 week’s time. Conditions looked perfect and she was hoping for a new PB after recent PB’s at 5k and 10k in the famous blue vest of Bolton Harriers. She was even hoping for a positive Strava comment from Harriers coach Dave Shaw ! She described this as the equivalent of a Hollywood handshake as Dave is not known to pass on praise lightly.

Sure enough after a very smooth run Katie cruised back in a big PB of 1 hour and 7 minutes as First Lady and 11th overall. She commented “I was happy to run on the flat in perfect weather conditions. Really pleased with the PB. I am missing training with Bolton Harriers now that I have moved house but still proud to be a member and wear the Bolton vest”.

Phil had travelled further South to Lytham St Annes and despite not feeling in the best of shape ran really well for a top 10 finish in a time of 58 minutes 55 seconds. He explained “I didn’t expect to run that well due to having a sore knee in the week building up to the race. I wore a knee compression sleeve and surprisingly didn’t feel any pain. I got carried away at the start and went off fast  but I then slowed down and tried to keep the pace under 6 minute a mile from 4 mile onwards. I had ran 5.45ish pace for the first 3 miles. I managed to sustain this. The 9 mile section was very windy which resulted in a 6.09 mile but then I managed to get a sub 6 again in the 10th. I was really happy with the time. Roll on the Manchester Marathon.”

Saturday 29th January saw the Northern Cross Country Championships at Pontefract Park Racecourse and Storm Malik did not deter Bolton Harriers duo Jordan Brophy and Rachel Bailey making the trip across the Pennines to take their place at the start. Horse Racing has taken place at the course for centuries but this was a day for a different type of thoroughbred on an undulating course through stiff winds and soft going underfoot.

Jordan described his senior men’s event. “This had been my first experience in the Northern League Cross Country and I thoroughly enjoyed the event. The conditions were dry but the wind speeds high. Once the starting pistol had been fired it created a stampede with the  hustle and bustle for space in  the first two kilometres. Upon reflection I now know that I naively allowed myself to be caught out by running too fast at the start of the event and this showed up in the latter stages. The event was meant to be 12.1k, although it ended up just over 13k and I finished in an overall time of 58 minutes 51 seconds. I’m not happy or disappointed with the result, I am considering this a bench mark and learning experience for next year’s event.”

Rachel is one of the more industrious and versatile athletes at Bolton Harriers and enters lots of events at different distances and on different surfaces throughout the year. She said “I was racing in the senior women for the first time, came in 85th out of 263, with a time of 39 minutes. It could have been better had I not had the discomfort of picking  up a blood blister 3.5miles into the 5mile race. Good experience and I look forward to a busy year of racing.”

Herbie Kay is making a very promising start to his athletics career just like his club namesake Jonny.

He took his place in the Under 15 Pentathlon at the weekend in the Scottish Indoor Championships.

Herbie started the event with a personal best of 5.07m in the Long Jump. He followed this up with a PB in the 60m Hurdles with 10.24 secs. He then went on to equal  his indoor best of 1.45m in the High Jump.  Herbie then took his place at the Shot Putt, improving in every round before launching another PB of 6.88m. To wrap things up in his first ever Pentathlon he then ran yet another PB in the 800m slicing a full 8 seconds off his previous best in a time of 2.23.12.

All Action Herbie had wrapped up a great day’s work with improvement in every event and 6^th place with 1954 points.

Proud father Justin said “he really enjoyed the event and had lots of support from the coaches and fellow athletes he trains with. This really helped over a long competition. It was his first indoor Pentathlon and only his second ever, and  gaining 4 PB’s was fantastic for him. This can now be used as a gauge for his preparation towards the National Indoor Combined Events Championships in Sheffield next month”.

There is certainly a lot of love in the air at Dave Shaw’s training sessions these days. After Josh Sabery and Rebecca Kay’s ( Josh n Becs) wedding last year Will Tomlinson and Heather Brown have now named the day for an April Wedding in Cheshire.

The happy couple are obviously very busy making arrangements for the big day and Will has even taking up sewing but is drawing the line at making the bride and bridesmaids dresses. Maybe Heather is drawing the line on that one though – who know !

Despite all that they are still finding time for training and races and actually making quite a good fist of it. They made the short journey across Lancashire for the Garstang 10k on Sunday.

Both in excellent form and numerous podium finishes in the last few months the trend continued. Heather was First Female and 13^th overall with an excellent pb of 38 mins 57 seconds and Will was 4^th overall (only 7 seconds away from a top 3 finish) in a super time of 34 mins 43 seconds.

Heather commented after the race “first race of the year and a new 10k PB. Wanted to break 39 on that course so I am pleased with the result and feel I have made a good step forward. Great run and fabulous scenic route (just a little lumpy in our coach Dave Shaw’s words!). Onwards and upwards now for 2022!”

After a frustrating few weeks with missed training sessions and seasonal illness Bolton Harrier’s star Jonny Kay showed he is getting back to his best with a win on Sunday in Sheffield at the BMC Indoor Meeting.

The British Milers Club is the premier middle distance athletics club in the country. Their aim is to improve the world standing of UK middle distance running by providing seeded and paced competition, athlete support and educating coaches. Athletes have got to achieve qualifying times to join making it an aspiration for lots of talented runners in this country.

Jonny made the early start over the Pennines, along with his coach Dave Shaw, feeling confident and in the mood to put his stamp on the 1500m race to come.

He explained “I have felt in good shape in the last couple of weeks  and had done a 1200m the Tuesday before on the track in Bolton in 3 minutes flat. I therefore knew I was primed to get under the British Championship standard time of 3:50.5 and full of confidence. I also assessed the opposition and thought immediately I was basically going to have to solo run it to achieve my goal.”

Jonny went on to describe the race “I pulled right behind the pacemaker from the off for the first 1000m – I actually thought the pacemaker did an excellent job – I then knew I had to pull away and hit the front and one other guy managed to come with me. I managed to find another gear and pull away from him though in the last 400m. I felt really strong then all the way to the line.” Jonny had stormed home  in a time of 3:49.8 thereby qualifying for the British Championships.

“Myself and my coach Dave feel we can now get down to the low 3:40s by the time the British Championships come around in seven weeks or so. We have a lot more training planned for the coming weeks and I have the 800 and 1500m in the Northern Championships this weekend coming. Exciting times ahead !”

Well done to all the athletes who took part in the Sale indoor open meeting on Sunday.Training partners and good friends Jamie Greenhalgh and Alfie Dodds competed in the U15 shot put at the third Sale indoor meeting. Both did some last minute technical work on the Bolton indoor track on Thursday which paid dividends – both recorded PB’s with Jamie coming out on top with a best of 7m 34 to Alfie’s 7m 12.Matilda Hall was once again Bolton’s only jumper and her best long jump was 4m 24 which she followed up with an equal PB of 1m 35 in the high jump. She was really close to clearing 1m 40 and it bodes well for her target to break the clubs U13 high jump record of 1m 42. U17 men Mark Lintott and Jake Harwood lined up in the same race in the 60m. Both executed their starts well and stormed through the line with Mark recording 7.51 seconds and Jake 7.56 seconds. Both of these performances are inside the EA U17 qualifying standard so both hope to compete in national championships in February. Jake followed this up with a strong 24.64 seconds in the 200m. U17 Poppy Dunne recovered from a difficult start in the 60m but ran strongly to record 8.77 secs and then competed in her favoured 200m event finishing 4th in 28.93 secs. Last seasons U13 sprint sensation Summer Eden continued her development as an U15. She dominated her 60m race and smashed her PB with a time of 8.26 seconds. Summer will compete in the Northern Championships in February and then the EA national champs later in the month. U13’s Allyssia May and Matilda Hall also competed in the 60m, running against girls up to two years older than them. Matilda came third in her heat equalling her PB in 8.63 secs. Allyssia built on her last race and once again smashed the club U13 record with a time of 8.36 seconds. Multi eventer Herbie Kay competed in two events in his preparation for his next combined event competition. In the 60m hurdles the U15 athlete ran 10.28 secs and then he cleared 1m 45 in the high jump just below his PB. Seniors Hannah Kelly and Olivia Kimbowa both dropped down a distance to compete over 200m and get some valued speed work before next weekends Northern championships where they both race over 400m. In the first women’s race Hannah started strongly and finished in 24.92 seconds. Olivia followed this up with a third place finish in heat 3 in a time of 26.41.

Buoyed by their recent Bolton Parkrun gender firsts Harriers couple Will Tomlinson and  Heather Brown travelled up to Longridge for the Christmas Pudding Seven Miler.

The Longridge course was described as a tough and undulating seven mile course over the beautiful Longridge fells all on roads. A bit of an understatement apparently with the severe inclines to negotiate.

The young Harriers couple did not let it faze them, gritted their teeth and battled round in 41 mins 56 secs and 46 mins 48 secs respectively. Will earning a podium finish  and Heather first female yet again.

Will said “I was just grateful to have come through some injury issues and finally get on the start line following a solid block of training. It was obvious early on that first place was out of reach, however I found myself in a tough three-way battle for the remaining two podium positions. Over the last downhill mile I managed to kick on from 4th to 2nd place through the finishing line which I was super pleased about”.Heather has had a stunning first year in competitive running with gender firsts in virtually everything she has entered and at various distances. Gushing with pride she said “Super happy to finish my road running race year on a high, taking 1st lady. Our coach Dave Shaw’s advice was to enjoy it and get stuck in – I took an early lead with the front pack and knew I just needed to keep the pace. Being a frequenter of hill running I knew I was in my element as a misty Jeffrey Hill approached. After four and half  miles of climb it was all downhill from there. Being the home stomping ground of my mum and grandparents I really wanted to win it for them and they were waiting with loud cheers at the finish line”!

Two more ‘Blue Vests’ made the short journey up the A666 for the Blackburn 10k. Sully Badat has been making great progress recently with the Bolton parkrun and has improved by over a minute in a month. He proved he had the stamina for the longer distance here and won his V45 age category in a time of 37 mins 13 secs and an overall top 20 finish. One of the leading runners in Aidie Costello’s Endurance Group Sully has been training really well both at home and with his Harriers group. He said “I have really enjoyed my running these last few months, I have lost some weight and feel in the best shape I can remember. Blackburn went totally to plan and am really pleased with my performance”.

Harriers warhorse Mark Wolstencroft was not far behind and galloped home in 37 mins 52 secs for a 2^ndplace in the V55 age category. He explained “if the finish had been around the whole of the Ewood park pitch I would have seen the other V55 in front of me and I might have had him !”

GWYLIM’S KIDS GO CROSS COUNTRY

Sunday also saw a Greater Manchester Cross Country Championships at Leigh Sports Village. The club only had 4 young athletes on the day and coach Gwylim Jones stated “I have been really pleased with the enthusiasm to turn out event after event by  Lily Philbin, Emily Wood and Cerys Jones. Emily in particular was taking part in her first Under 13s race moving up from the Under 11s and she put in an outstanding performance. Eve Blaney was also taking part in her first event of this kind and I was delighted with her”.

Sunday 12^th December saw the Telford 10k. Statistically proven as the fastest 10k course in the UK the race had a seriously strong countrywide field. A two lap traffic free tarmac course utilising Telford Town Park for this  England Athletics Age Group Masters Qualifying Event.

Danny Shaw and Martin Reid took their places at the start for the hotpot event.

Danny, aiming for a sub 32, came home an agonising 1 second away in exactly 32 minutes. Martin was typically first to congratulate his slightly disappointed team mate who nonetheless had run a magnificent race. He eulogized “Danny’s run was an absolutely sensational effort. It was a fast course stacked with class runners. He ran a pretty even first and second 5k but really went for it in the last 400m with a sub 65 seconds and was extremely unlucky not to get the sub 32”.

As regards his own performance (a not so shabby 34 mins 30 secs) Martin explained “I didn’t run as well as I would have liked. I’m taking a couple of weeks off for Christmas.  I need to recharge mentally and physically as I have been running five days a week since doing a marathon last year. I need to miss it and get desperate to be back out there again”.

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.