BOLTON’S leading light Tom Lancashire returned to the six-stage team line-up for the national road relays (ERRA) at Birmingham’s Sutton Park after being unavailable for the qualifiers a fortnight ago.

Tucking in for most of the 3.7-mile (5.8k) course, he showed his class and tactical nous by turning on the afterburners with 500 metres to go.

Overtaking Cheltenham’s Graham Rush and WSEH’s Alexander Tovey along the way, he crossed the line in 17mins 17secs, the third quickest time of the day.

Tony Valentine took on the baton in first place by four seconds and completed his leg in 19:15 – the second fastest by the Bolton team – before handing over to Karl Darcy in 24th place.

Still suffering from the illness that has affected much of Bolton’s endurance squad over the last month, he went round in an impressive 19:39.

Fourth runner Jonny Kay took the baton in 32nd place and returned happier after his improved performance from Blackpool, clocking 19:32.

Junior athlete Declan Toomey stepped up from the B Team at Blackpool to deliver a controlled penultimate leg in 20:11.

It was good high-level experience for the youngster who continues to show signs he will be a force to be reckoned with in the future.

He handed over to Martin Reid in 36th place and the last man gained one position with a fine time of 19:26 to bring the club home in a cumulative 1:55:20.

That it was the ninth placing of all northern A teams, despite the prevalent illness and lack of competitive fitness for most, will give a boost for Bolton's 2016 aspirations, having effectively moved up 10 places from the Northerns. Coordinator Dave Shaw is already looking forward to March’s 12-stage, saying: “If we can get a fully fit squad, we’ll be looking to challenge the top-five placing.”

Result: BUH&AC 35th 1:55:20: Tom Lancashire (1) 17:17, Anthony Valentine (24) 19:15, Karl Darcy (32) 19:39, Jonothan Kay (34) 19:32, Declan Toomey (36) 20:11, Martin Reid (36) 19:26.

Tommy Harrison took his first major win over the 13.1km of the Rivington Trail Half Marathon in typical autumnal conditions.

The uneven and undulating terrain, along with a sore throat for the last fortnight, makes his 1:21:51 time all the more impressive.

Swinton RC’s Mark Russell was 18secs behind in silver after leading for the first eight miles, a ding-dong tussle between miles eight and 10 saw the lead swap several times before Harrison kicked in twice to develop the gap.

Scott Crompton followed up in 1:31:26 for 16th, but would have comfortably gone under 90 minutes but for inexplicably going 500m the wrong way, and he was grateful to a passing rambler for directing him back!

M40 Christian Pickford again demonstrated his improvement with 1:38:34 – a solid top 10 per cent at 41st of the 438 field.

Elsewhere, Mark Swannell hit some form at the Chester Marathon.

With very little training, his intention was to just enjoy himself, which he clearly did by ‘jogging’ a hugely impressive 2:53:04 for 39th overall, including an impressive 1:24:35 half marathon split and 39:08 for 10k.