Three adventurous Bolton Harriers journeyed to the Wigan Trail 10k held at Amberswood Nature Reserve on the morning of the 15th of May.
All debutants at this race; this intrepid trio were tempted across the border by the prospect of a flat scenic course, and also rumours of free pie and peas in the clubhouse afterwards. Clearly, while this is not generally part of an athlete’s strict training diet, they agreed to force it down so as not to appear rude.
The race got underway at 10.30 in the sunshine with the runners heading away from the sports club and into the depths of the woodland trails before emerging to head twice round the lake and then back for a finish on the grass next to the rugby pitch.
First back for BUH was Gary Porteous, who continued his excellent form, finishing in 23rd position in a time of 43 minutes flat. Gary said “this was a really enjoyable and well-organised race. The mixed terrain made it tough at times but I was pleased with my effort on the day which was a PB for a trail 10k”. Another PB for Gary, who has put his injury problems behind him and is putting in performances as dazzling as his luminous running shoes.
Second home for the Harriers was Dominic Sohor with a time of 44.02 in 38th position. Dominic described the event as “a cracking race in a lovely location. I will definitely be back next year as long as I can come up with another excuse for not being able to keep up with Gary”.
Completing the results for Bolton was Nigel Brodrick who put in a muscular performance crossing the line bang on 45 minutes (44th position). Nigel has really stepped things up of late, now that he has remembered how to get to Leverhulme Park for training and is producing some fine performances in races. Nigel described the post-race sustenance as “definitely worth running 6 miles for”.
All three agreed that they are hoping to be back at this race next year, no doubt accompanied by a few more hungry Bolton Harriers.