GEOFF Knowles made great strides in the Penny Lane Striders 10k run from Garston, slicing more than three minutes off his best performance.

Knowles clocked a time of 55mins 20secs, a far better time than the Harrier had he had managed in the Great Manchester Run and Bolton 10k.

Last week’s Horwich Festival of Racing saw several Blue Vests in action across the races. John Knowles returned in style after a calf niggle to finish 16th overall of the 147 field in the British Masters (BMAF) 5k Championships. His 16:35 placed him sixth in the M40 category, illustrating the strong competition he was up against.

Cathy Flitcroft claimed bronze in her F50 category, 95th overall, with 21:00.9 – unlucky to not officially break the 21-minute barrier for the first time, while David Tomlinson’s 24:45.4 put him as fourth M75.

Further illustrating the quality, 24 runners beat the Open race winning time of 16:43.9.

In that later Open 5k race, Simon Dally’s 17:41.6 was fourth overall of the 65 field. Tired legs were his prime issue after competing in three races in three days to claim the Racing series. Paul Turner also collected bronze in the orienteering event with a time of 32:37.