The last couple of weeks has seen a resumption of competitive athletics for Horwich RMI Harriers.

James Scott-Farrington and Toby Middleton got the season off to a fast start in the Fast 5k at the Three Sisters Race Circuit.

Scott-Farrington was 11th in the ‘A’ race and Middleton ninth in the ‘B’ race. They each followed this up the next weekend with strong performances in very blustery conditions on the Tameside Cycle Circuit.

Scott-Farrington took second place in the ‘B’ race and Middleton eighth in the ‘C’ race. In the G race for under-15 and under-17s, Zac Taylor was second and Benjamin Hall eighth.

On the same day at Tatton Park, Rob Jackson now running at V55 was on familiar ground and duly took second place in his age category.

On the fells in fine weather 14 Harriers, both seniors and juniors made the short journey to Mirfield in West Yorkshire for the David Bell Memorial Hoppits Hill fell race on a tough scenic course.

First away were the under-8s and Jacob Wilkinson ran well for 10th place. The under-10s then followed and Grace Freary was leading for much of the race until a stitch set her back to seventh place. Maddison Wilkinson, a newcomer to fell racing, was a minute behind in 11th place.

In the under-12 race Harry Yates was eighth and Gracie Sherbourne 15th and the under-14s race had the largest field.

Both Isobelle Wilkinson and Megan Elliott were tackling the longer distance for the first time and had super races for 25th and 27th places.

The Harriers’ top performance of the day came in the under-16 race where Isaac Battye has maintained the progress he showed in 2019 and clocked a great time of 20:56 on a course just short of three miles. The reward was a fine second place.

Charlotte Wilkinson ran well for 14th place and Emma Bradley recovered well from a wrong turn to take 20th place. In the senior race, Paul Battye inspired by his son’s performance made a rare fell appearance and was fourth v40 in 26th place. The evergreen Tony Hesketh took the v70 second place in 111th place.

This past weekend some of the Harriers young squad, took on the British Milers’ Club 3k at the Tameside Cycle Circuit with Middleton winning, closely followed by Isaac Battye and Benjamin Hall.

Results: Fast 5k (Ashton in Makerfield) – ‘A’ race 11th James Scott Farrington 14:40; ‘B’ race 9th Toby Middleton 15:34; British Milers Club 5k (Tameside) – ‘B’ race 2nd James Scott-Farrington 14:46; ‘C’ race 8th Toby Middleton 15:30; ‘G’ race 2nd Zac Taylor 16:09; 8th Benjamin Hall 17:08; Hoppits Hill fell race (Mirfield) – 26th Paul Battye 23:09; 111th Tony Hesketh 30:55; Run through Tatton 10k (Knutsford) – 87th Rob Jackson 40:03; British Milers Club 3k (Tameside) – 1st Toby Middleton 8:56; 6th Isaac Battye 9:44; 9th Benjamin Hall 10:01.