THE annual Horwich Humdinger race had a special competitor this year when Olympic champion Jason Kenny turned up.

The race, which takes place at Bolton's Leverhulme Park, has been held each year for more than half a century and attracts riders from around the North West.

Over the years it has seen several Tour de France riders and around 50 national champions take part.

Organised by Horwich Cycling Club it is part of the North West Cyclocross calendar of races and represents a tough challenge, as Kenny found out as he finished down the field.

It attracts hundreds of participants and spectators every September with many who go along to watch returning the following year to compete.

This year's event was postponed on the original date for the first time in its history due to the extremely bad weather which was a huge surprise as cylocross is a winter sport which generally goes ahead regardless of the weather.

Clubs from Bolton and around the region got together and met with council officials who agreed the event could be rescheduled for later in the year.

The sixth in the North West Cyclocross series of 12 races, it attracted more than 400 competitors in various age categories with 160 juniors, many from Bolton's youth cycling club Bolton Hotwheels, and there were more than 35 volunteers to enable to event to run smoothly.

Results

The top five finishers in each category were:

Seniors: 1 Martin Woffindin, 2 Thomas Armstrong, 3 Adam Betts, 4 Dave Powell (Horwich), 5 Isaac Peatfield (local Bolton rider). Horwich CC: Dave Powell fourth, Benjamin Horrobin 22nd, Jack Speirs 25th.

Vet 40-45: 1 Jason Dalton, 2 Roy Davis, 3 David Haygarth, 4 Rob Hope (local Bolton rider), 5 Adrian Lawrence (local). Horwich CC: Joseph Heywood 26th.

Vet 50: 1 Mick Styles, 2 Chris Dwyer (Bolton-based Lancashire Road Club), 3 Richard Bink, 4 Brian Gough, 5 David Smith. Horwich CC: David Rose 44th.

Women: 1 Emma Knight, 2 Christina Wiejak, 3 Nikola Matthews, 4 Julia Behnsen, 5 Sue Fisher. Horwich CC: Sarah Grimshaw eighth.

Under-16/14: 1 Bjoern Koerdt, 2 Huw Buck Jones, 3 Scott Fisher, 4 Nathan Smith, 5 Dylan Edwards.

Under-12: 1 Joseph Cosgrove, 2 Joshua Jackson, 3 Joe Watkins-Wilson, 4 Sebastian Grindley, 5 Morgan Williams.

Under-10: 1 Daniel Cosgrove, 2 Fraser Cummings, 3 Monty Sutton, 4 Rocco Schumacher, 5 Oliver Bell.

Under-8: 1 Sam Oldham, 2 Frank White, 3 Harry Ball, 4 Peter de Lacy-Perkins, 5 Ben Bradley.