By David Barnes

 

HORWICH men missed out on the gold medals at the Greater Manchester annual cross country championships.

The athletes, who won last year's event, were beaten to the top spot by Salford Harriers at Leverhulme Park, writes David Barnes.

Chris Farrell's superb run saw him take second place while Michael Cayton and Nick Leigh in fifth and sixth places were separated by only two seconds.

Simon Flynn was the fourth member of the silver medalling team.

The Horwich juniors also put up a great show on the muddy and testing course.

A brilliant team performance from the U13s boys saw them claim silver medals with all three scorers finishing in the top 10.

Tom Massey, who is in fine form, led them home in fourth place and was closely followed by Luke Brindle in sixth and Robert Seddon in 10th.

The remaining four Horwich runners all ran well to achieve a ‘B’ team place too.

In the U13s girls' race Ella Pendlebury finished a minute behind the winner in 18th place, while Milly Lever – running in her first championships – finished a well-deserved 49th.

The only representative in the U15s was Lewis Wilkes. Luke Massey in the U17s race finished just outside the county qualifying positions in sixth place and will wait to see if the selectors pick him for the Inter Counties team.

Meanwhile over in Blackburn, Suzanne Budgett finished 25th in the Lancashire Cross Country ladies' championships. James Kevan was 16th and Richard Howarth 47th in the men's championship.

Nick Kelly took 29 minutes off his previous best when he tackled the gruelling Marsden to Edale Trigger fell race finishing 45th out of 192 finishers.

With ascents totalling more than 5,400 feet and in winter-like condition, Kelly took part in the 20-mile race just a day after finishing first at the Haigh Woodland parkrun.

The parkrun highlight for RMI this week was at Bolton where debutant Isaac Battye finished in 46th place in a fine time of 24:21 in the JM 10-year-old category runner.

Tom Lucas meanwhile added to his consistent runs with a sixth-placed finish.

The Garstang 10k road race on Sunday brought out good times from a sprinkling of Harriers, notably Peter Rice finishing ninth out of 475 runners and first home in the MV50 category.

Horwich RMI Harriers featured strongly in the results of the 2015 Area Fell Grand Prix, a competition of seven Lancashire clubs featuring 11 races throughout the year. Sandra Kelly won the open ladies and the LV45 age category.

Gary Chadderton finished third in the open category with 233 points, only eight points behind the outright winner. He also won the MV50 category. John Monks won the MV60 category. Doug Fleming came second in the MV55 category, Tony Hesketh fourth in the MV65 category, Nick Kelly was third in the MV45 and Ray Stafford was third in MV70.

Results

Greater Manchester Annual Cross Country Championship, Bolton: U13s boys – Tom Massey, fourth 12:08; Luke Brindle, sixth 12:45; Robert Seddon, 10th 13:01; Matthew Flatters, 15th 13:19; Matthew Mair, 16th 13:22; Toby Middleton, 24th 13:38; Lucas Milliken, 27th 13:51; U13s girls – Ella Pendlebury, 18th 14:27; Milly Lever, 49th 16:23; U15s boys – Lewis Wilkes, 16th 17:05; U17s men – Luke Massey, sixth 18:18; Senior men – Chris Farrell, second 29:29; Michael Cayton, sixth 30:54; Nick Leigh, seventh 30:56; Simon Flynn, 32nd 34:01; Dave Milliken, 45th 36:00; James Jordan, 58th 37:09; Gordon Stone 113th 47:33.

Lancashire Cross Country Championship, Blackburn: Senior Ladies – Suzanne Budgett, 25th 31:45; Senior Men – James Kevan, 16th 37:47; Richard Howarth, 47th 40:33.

Marsden to Edale Trigger fell race: Nick Kelly, 45th 04:40:47.

Garstang 10k: Peter Rice, ninth 36:04; Rudolf Maciejkowicz, 77nd 42:03; Sandra Kelly, 142nd 45:23; Geoff Leech, 156th 46:15; Carl Leech, 237th 50:10; Rachel Merino, 256th 50:50; Julie Williamson, 355th 56:33.