SIXTEEN Blue Vests featured amongst the 325-strong field of the second Central Lancs Grand Prix fixture of 2018 – the Trotters 5.

As per the opening round, two were on the podium, with Tommy Harrison winning the race in a sprint finish with Leigh’s Dave Smith and John Knowles collecting bronze.

Simon Dally and Dom Gavin made it four Harriers in the top 10, while junior Emily Petch made her debut at a senior open race.

BUH&AC results: 1 Tommy Harrison (28:47), 3 John Knowles (28:57), 5 Simon Dally (30:30), 9 Dominic Gavin (30:57), 19 Chris Povey (31:50), 29 Mark Wolstencroft (33:04), 32 David Chrystal (33:33), 63 James Rideout (36:14), 82 Andrew Gallagher (37:43), 93 Zoe Gibson (38:13), 97 Rachel Bailey (38:24), 102 Scott Bracey (38:35), 211 David Jones (46:36), 279 Gerard Tucker (53:38), 313 Emily Petch (1:02:36), 314 Lee Petch (1:02:37).

A week earlier, a strong Bolton team lined up amongst the field of 342 at the Lostock 6.

Karl Darcy and Jonny Kay enjoyed a great battle from the off with the pair building up a sizeable lead by the mile point. Darcy edged ahead at the three-mile point with Kay having to dig deep in the last two miles to make up ground.

The six-mile race came down to a sprint finish with Kay edging it by four seconds and, in doing so, breaking 30 minutes by finishing in a time of 29mins 56secs with Darcy just missing the barrier in 30.01.

Tommy Harrison then made it a Bolton one-two-three, out-battling Leigh’s Neil Pendlebury in the closing stages to finish in 31:42 – boding well for his upcoming half marathon at Wilmslow.

The good performances continued with the next finisher being Gavin in 12th (35:12), followed by a flood of Blue Vests, all coming in within a minute of each other with Chris Povey 14th (36:04), Chris Pickford (36:28), Lewis Aldred 20th (36:49) and Craig Kenny 21st (36:56).

Ken Fowler was next home in 71st (41:38) with David Jones rounding off the team in 236th (51:44).

The annual Bolton 10K race, hosted by Bolton United Harriers on Sunday, April 22, takes place at Leverhulme Park. Runners interested in taking part should go to the event website at www.bolton10k.org for more information.