CHIPS OFF THE OLD BLOCKS
Tony Valentine and John Knowles have both ran with distinction over the years for Bolton Harriers. Their sons Marcus Valentine and Nathaniel Knowles now look set to follow in their footsteps.
A fine dry morning greeted youngsters from North West schools to the Abbey Village Daffodil Doddle on Sunday 13th March. From Abbey Village School an out and back scenic trails course taking in Roddlesworth Reservoir beckoned the young athletes.
Marcus led from start to finish and came home in a brilliant time of 6 mins 58 secs and said “I really enjoyed the flattish out and back course. It was a fast start and I managed to set off in front and held my position throughout. The training at Bolton is helping greatly and I feel I am improving a lot compared to my school mates because of my Harriers membership. I am now on a par with some members I was well behind when I first joined. I have been doing Parkrun with my dad and he has helped me a lot. I think I can go even faster than my dad though in a couple of years or so ! I have entered the Bolton 5k this coming weekend and then will be testing myself against some good runners in the Northern Championships”.
Nathaniel Knowles was 5th in this race in 2020 and came home runner up this time a full minute quicker in a time of 7 mins 30 secs. Delighted with his showing he said “it was a really good race and I could see Marcus leading and had two more runners in front of me in the first half of the course. I managed to pick those two off on my way back to the line. Training is great at Bolton Harriers and my dad also helps me a lot. We even did a recce of the course together before the event. My dad was a good runner with the club and I want to follow in his footsteps. I particularly like cross country races and will be entering as many of those as I can this season”.
Alex Preston was third harrier back in overall 8th position and is another making great improvement. He recorded a time of 8 mins 7 secs and was a minute and 20 secs quicker than 2020.
Coach Gwylim Jones was proud of the way all the Blue Vest youngsters ran but also pointed out the club had Emily Wood as 2nd girl in the race and 13th overall. He also wanted to mention Rosie Prendergast as the club’s youngest entrant at the age of 7.
Bolton United Harriers would like to congratulate and thank the following 23 athletes for their efforts: 1st Marcus Valentine 2nd Nathaniel Knowles 8th Alex Preston 13th Emily Wood 14th James Lombard 16th Mathew Wood 23rd Max Preston 24th Edward Jones 25th Elliott Molineux 27th Mike Ndlovu 30th Charley Marsden 31st Freya Lombard 39th Abigail Mcshane 42nd Frankie Wood 44th Daniel Mcshane 46th Isabella Whittle 47th Rose Blaney 54th Cerys Jones 60th Aoife Waldron 61st Olivia Coker 62nd Tyler Kizilkaya 71st Rosie Prendergast 92nd Jasmine Greenhalgh.
The club would also like to thank Coach Gwylim Jones and his daughter Lindsay for their attendance and all the other parents and family members for getting the kids to the race and their support.
