THIS year’s Jubilee Road Race Series once again provided great competition for local runners in an excellent evening’s racing.

The Jubilee races were run on the 34th anniversary of the first race series, which itself was established to recognise a landmark anniversary of host club Horwich RMI Harriers and Athletic Club.

In 1984, when the club celebrated its 60th anniversary of its founding in 1924, the first race series was designed and organised by Gareth Hughes.

Over the years, due to road closures, foot-and-mouth disease restrictions, the race distance and routes has varied from four miles to five miles around the roads of Rivington Village and surrounding area. The 2017 series included a seniors’ and juniors’ race.

The seniors completed a five-mile, two-lap course. It provides athletes with the benefit of running the same race route four times a season, allowing them to chart their own improvement over the series.

First to complete the race was Salford Harriers’ Gary Priestley, who ran a time of 26mins 16secs. He was followed across the finish line by Jack Hindle and Chris Davies, both of Blackburn Harriers, with Bolton United Harriers’ Dominic Gavin in fourth.

Chris Essex-Crosby was Horwich RMI’s first male competitor but the club’s colours were flying high with Lindsey Brindle, first woman back and ninth overall in a time of 31:08.

In the team events, Wigan Phoenix topped the men’s standings, ahead of Chorley. Horwich were third, with Essex-Crosby, Steve Jackson, David Unsworth and Rudolf Maciejkowicz their counters. Lostock AC were in fourth with James Jackson, Paul O’Brien, Stuart Hatton and Adam Lowe counting for them.

The women’s team event was topped by Burnden Road Runners, their three counters being Lyndsay Darbyshire, Shirley Staveley and Anne Ferguson. Brindle’s run was backed by Gemma Stokes and Linda Webb to earn Horwich second, ahead of Wigan and District.

Horwich’s RMI dominated the juniors’ one-mile race, with Ethan Isaacs finishing first in 5:46 in race one, ahead of Jensen Bentham (Clayton Le Moors) and Bolton United’s Harvey Kenny.

There were also top-10 finishes for Horwich RMI’s Harrison Stokes, Emma Bradley, Joshua Houghton and Oliver Gibson.

Race two was won by Blackburn’s Leon Thomas, who was followed home by five Horwich athletes in a row, Lewis Wilkes, Robert Seddon, Matthew Flatters, Toby Middleton and Nathan Lancaster. Team-mates Kieran Kinealy was eighth, Ella Pendlebury 10th and Isabella Merritt 11th.There were awards and prizes totalling more than £350 in each race and there are also series awards.

The June race is the club’s entry in the local Grand Prix series in which 10 local clubs send athletes to compete, which makes for a spectacular evening with up to 300 runners battling for honours.

Current Jubilee race organiser, and chairman of Horwich RMI Harriers, Peter Ramsdale, said: “It has always been a well-respected race in the runners’ calendar and the friendly rivalry between club runners always produces a great race.”

Horwich is often seen as a fell running club but has produced many fine road and cross-country athletes and continues to do so.

“The club has a large number of junior athletes regularly attending coaching sessions each week, both at the Arena track and on the local fells.”

Harriers coach and race director for the Junior Street races, Andy Townsend, said: “The street races are a great opportunity for youngsters to take their first steps into competition as well as for the older ones to test themselves against young athletes from several local area clubs in a friendly setting.”

Andy attributes the success of the Street series to a host of ingredients, in the case of the junior series due to its relatively flat and fast course.

The race series gains profile from featuring in the “Run Britain Ranking” section and in 2015 the Rivington course provided Cian Healy with a result that was recognised as the fastest under-11s boy in the country.

There are two races and the results are split into various age groups. The junior races are run on a closed road to ensure safety and spectators have a great view of the athletes.

Horwich organisers work with other clubs to promote the race and they support other club races for the benefit of all young athletes.

Toby Middleton is one of the many young athletes who have come through the Harriers’ programme to enjoy all forms of competition.

He ran his first Street race in 2013 in 7:14. Four years and a lot of training later, the 13-year-old ran 5:20.

The course does have a slight uphill section so a four-minute mile is unlikely but he said: “One of the best things about the Street race is that we all battle against one another and in the process we all improve our times.

“It’s great to see all my mates and we all warm up together chatting until we line up and the whistle goes.”