Bolton United Harriers & Athletics Club

Three of Bolton United Harriers university athletes travelled across the Pennines to compete in their first British University and College Sports Indoor Athletics Championships. Instead of pulling on the blue vest of Bolton United harriers they wore their university colours.

First year student Ben To, competing for UCLAN, lined up in the 60m against some of the best U23 athletes in the country. Despite running 7.15 which is just outside his PB of 7.13 he could only manage 3rd in his heat and just missed out on a place in the semi-finals.

Edge Hill student Rebecca Weekes and University of Birmingham student Olivia Kimbowa were drawn against each other in the heats of the women’s 400m. Both got away to good starts but Olivia was really strong over the last 100m and won the heat in 58.61 seconds, a new indoor PB. Hurdles specialist Rebecca in one of her first races of the season also ran a big indoor PB of 60.72 seconds finishing third.

In the semi- final Olivia was drawn in lane 4 against the eventual winner of the 400m. She knew she had to work hard to be in contention at the half way stage and she valiantly tried to stay in touch with the leaders. Although she finished third in the race she smashed her lifetime best with a time of 57.60 seconds.

A delighted  Olivia explained “57 seconds has been my target 400m time for the last couple years, so I’m over the moon to have finally reached that new lifetime best this weekend. To have won my first national medal with the amazing relay girls  It really shows that all the hard work Les and I have put into training is going well. Training is now aimed at the outdoor season, which starts in April. I’m really excited to run even quicker times and compete at more national championships this year”.

Coach Les Hall was also really pleased with the performance. “Olivia can definitely run much quicker outdoors and I hope she will run mid 56’s. If she manages to improve further it will book her a place in the EA senior England Championships and should see her ranked in the national top 70, hot on the heels of training partner Hannah Kelly”.

Both girls also competed for their respective university 4x200m relay teams, both teams winning a place in the final. The Birmingham team proved too strong for Edge Hill and finished a fantastic 2nd, winning Olivia her first national medal. Both will go back to a period of hard training in readiness for this year’s outdoor season.

Hannah Kelly won her first senior England vest on Saturday 5th Feb. She was selected to compete in the new format Dynamic New Athletics ‘DNA’. She was running her favoured distance of 400m and was part of the 4x400m mixed relay squad. Lining up against teams from Scotland, Ireland, Wales, Spain and Portugal Hannah ran the third leg of the relay. She ran a perfect race and recorded 53.4 seconds for her leg which was 1.5 seconds quicker than the time she ran when winning the Northern senior championships in January. She next races at the British Championships at the end of February where she will compete against the best female 400m runners in the country

Ten young Bolton Harriers competed at this years Northern U13 and U15 championships. Most of them had never competed at a championship of this level before so there were lots of nerves. The first competitor of the day was Matilda Hall in the U13 girls long jump. Despite a nervy start, in the third round she leapt 4m 37 to set a new PB to reach the final 8. She couldn’t improve on this distance in her final three attempts but it was enough to win the bronze medal.

Multi talented Tilly then took on the high Jump. A relative newcomer to the event Tilly only jumps off a short run up but despite this soared over 1m 35 to equal her PB. She then attempted 1m 40 and at the second attempt sailed over to record another PB. 1m 43 proved a height too far but this should be within her reach in the summer and that would earn her a new club record. 1m 40 was enough to win her second medal of the day – one better a shiny silver medal.

In the U13 boys events newcomers Josh Grundy and Benji Davies lined up first in the 200m. The junior school boys were up against athletes a year older but despite this both came a creditable 4th position in their heats. Both felt more confident in the 60m. Josh raced first and came a fantastic third place in the semi final earning him a place in the final. Benji also ran a fantastic race but unfortunately missed out on the final by one place. In the final Josh finished 7th in a time of 8.95 seconds only 0.04 seconds outside the U13 boys club record.

U13 girls debutants Princess Iwelu and Chloe Medard doubled up in the 60m and the 200m – potentially 6 races in the afternoon if they reached their finals. Both ran fantastic 200m heats and duly qualified for the semi finals. Chloe ran hard but just ran out of steam to finish an excellent 4th in her race. In the next semi final Princess battled hard and qualified for the final as a fastest loser with a time of 28.84 seconds. In the final Princess took advantage of an inside lane and came third to claim the bronze medal.

Coach Les Hall has high hopes of his U13 girl sprinters and believes that this years crop could emulate the relay team from 2021 which finished the year ranked 7th in the UK. Allyssia May, Matilda Hall, Princess Iwelu and Chloe Medard all entered the 60m. In the heats Allyssia and Matilda easily won their heats and Princess and Chloe also progressed to the semi finals. In the first semi final Allyssia blew the rest of the field away winning easily and put a marker down to the other competitors.

In the second semi final Matilda Hall and Chloe Medard both lined up against the fastest girl in the North of England. Tilly got a blistering start and opened up a gap of 2 metres and never looked likely to be beaten. She recorded a new PB of 8.50 seconds. The semi final was Chloes 4th race of the day but she still came a fantastic 6th place. In the last semi final Princess ran a quick 8.84 seconds to finish third and qualify for her second final of the day.

Three Bolton U13 girls had made the final of the 60m – the club had never had so many competitors make a regional final.
All girls ran superb races but Allyssia wasn’t to be denied. She stormed through the line in 8.28 seconds which smashed her PB and broke her own club record. Matilda was a close second and came away with her third medal of the day. It was Princess’ 6th race of the day but she still finished an amazing 6th to cap off an incredible day.

U15 girls Cherie Ufuoma and Summer Eden were not to be outdone. Both breezed through heats and lined up against each other in the third semi final of the 60m. The girls dominated their competitors and finished first and second to book their places in the final. Both ran fantastic races and Cherie came away with the bronze medal and Summer finished 5th against girls all 12 months older than her. Next year Summer will be hoping to go even better and has a medal in her sites. Both girls smashed their PB’s with Summer running 8.16 seconds and Cherie ran 8.08 seconds which broke yet another club record.

In the U15 boys Jamie Greenhalgh and Alfie Dodds competed in the the shot putt. Both had performed really well during the 2021 season and hoped to improve further. Jamie threw a new PB of 7m 71 to finish 5th and Alfie was close to his PB with a throw of 7m 03.

It was a great day for Bolton Harriers and their young stars came away with one gold medal, two silver medals and three bronze medals. It’s great to see some of the stars if the future compete so well.

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”.