BOLTON parkrunners were given a musical lift up the dreaded Cinder Hill last weekend by a gang of six volunteers who doubled up as Mariachi musicians to provide some much-needed encouragement.

The Chuckle Band, as they have been dubbed by fellow organisers, performed at the foot of the 5k course's most daunting challenge.

Their musical distraction technique certainly worked for Tommy Harrison, as the Bolton United Harrier stormed to his seventh victory in 39 appearances at Leverhulme Park in a rapid time of 17mins 6secs.

Harrison was closely followed by Lukas Siska, of Horwich RMI Harriers, who was second over the line in 17:36, while Stephen Moran, of Northern Veterans AC, was third in 19:38.

There was another familiar name at the head of the women's race as Paula Pilling, of Burnden Roadrunners, crossed the line 20th overall in a time of 21:37 to record her 18th win in the 47th time of asking.

Horwich RMI Harrier Sandra Kelly was second woman home and 34th finisher overall in 22:38, while Katherine Baines, of British Military Fitness, was third woman and 55th overall in a time of 23:45.

The runners may not have danced up Cinder Hill, but the Chuckle Band can take a certain amount of satisfaction from the fact their tuneful intervention could have been behind 42 personal bests on Saturday.

That's close to 20 per cent of the 252-strong field, of which 33 were first timers.

There was also a good spread of runners from local, regional and national athletic clubs, with 26 different clubs represented.

The Bolton event's latest stats add to its growing list of impressive figures since it was first run on February 5, 2011.

Since then, 5,297 different runners have taken part, including participants from 234 athletics clubs, completing 43,910 runs covering a total distance of 219,550k. There have also been 8,432 new personal bests recorded in that time.

Last weekend's figures also showed that age is no barrier when it comes to the parkrun, with three runners recording times that put them in the top 20 per cent for their age bracket.

Marjorie Leigh (VW65-69) earned an age-grading of 82.5 per cent for her time of 25:43 as she finished 89th overall.

Stephen Morran (VM60-64) managed a grading of 81.66 per cent his third-placed finish, while Rudolf Maciejkowicz (VM60-64), who was ninth overall, achieved a grading of 80.85 per cent for his time of 20:22.

All of this, as ever, would not have been possible but for the gang of 30 volunteers who helped make the event happen, including those who ensured the race ended on such a high note.