BURNDEN’S Mike Watkinson led the way at an emotional Great Manchester Run as all eyes were on the city after the shocking events of the previous week.

Watkinson was the first club member to finish the 10K race, dipping under 45 minutes with 44mins 44secs. Isaline Kneale was just a few minutes behind in 47:16.

George Ogden was next home in 1:15:32, followed by Ann Hardman (1:19:44) and Bill Kelly (1:23:34).

For the first time this year there was also a half-marathon distance on the day and two Burnden members took part, both of them coming in under two hours. First home was Ben Knight, who posted 1:42:47, followed a short while later by Steven Yates in 1:49:46.

In Liverpool, the atmosphere was equally charged as members joined the thousands of runners from all over the world for the Liverpool Rock 'n' Roll Marathon and Half Marathon.

Andrew Henderson led the Burnden contingent home in the full distance with a superb time of 3:26:35. Henderson crossed the halfway mark in 1:33:33 and passed 20 miles in 2:31:48.

Gareth Doherty, in his first attempt at the distance, registered 3:33:33. He reached halfway in 1:44:48 and 20 miles in 2:40:19.

Linda O’Byrne was the first female Burnden finisher and came home in under four hours with a terrific time of 3:56:17, dipping under two hours at halfway in 1:57:58 and reaching the 20-mile mark in 3:00:32.

Richard Blake was just a few seconds behind her in 3:56:52. He ran 1:55:43 for the first half and hit 20 miles in 2:56:57.

Sarah Woodiwiss was next to finish with a time of 4:43:03. She reached halfway at 2:09:45 and 20 miles in 3:27:17.

Over the half-marathon distance, John Edge and Julie Newton both finished well inside two hours. Edge registered 1:51:05 and Newton came within 52 seconds of a personal best, knocking eight minutes off her time last year to post 1:56:53. Gillian McGowan completed the course in 2:56:15.

Debra Hennessey headed for Blackpool on Saturday and the town’s Promenade 10-Mile event which she completed in 1:43:46.

Rob Short and Trevor Fishwick tackled the Ian Hesketh Memorial Duathlon around Rivington, involving two 5K off-road runs sandwiching a three-lap 22K bike ride with a couple of hills on each lap.

Short finished 17th and fourth in his category with an opening run of 20:02, 47:06 on the bike and a second run of 22:22 for a total of 1:29:30.

Fishwick’s runs of 25:25 and 32:15 were either side of a 53:25 bike ride for a total time of 1:51:05.

Lorraine Halwood completed her first sprint triathlon at the Chorlton X U-Swim event. She negotiated the 750m swim in Chorlton Water Park’s lake in 25:15, covered the 15K off-road cycle in 49:23 and finished off with a 5K of 27 minutes for a total of 1:43:27.