INSPIRATIONAL Burnden Road Runner, Gillian McGowan, set herself a challenge as she headed out to tackle 10k worth of Rivington fells in the dark.

The Petzl Night Runner, organised by Epic Events, sends racers to navigate the boggy, rough and rocky course round Rivington, up to the Pike and across to the Two Lads.

McGowan described the race as ‘very technical’ as runners had to negotiate the difficult terrain.

Runners were treated to a glow in the dark t-shirt and medal once they had tracked down all the reflective signs illuminating the course.

McGowan finished in 2hrs 13mins 13secs.

Adam Austin, headed to Great Harwood to compete in the annual East Lancashire Hospice 10k. Austin was on top form as he completed the course in an impressive 46:16 – his best 10k result since 2019.

There was a little bit of panic for parkrunners on Saturday as the icy tracks meant Bolton’s event was cancelled to ensure health and safety.

By 10am at Leverhulme, the sun was out and the Out and Back part of the course was safe for Burnden’s New Beginners’ group to proceed.

The Burnden Bees completed their warm-up followed by 25 minutes of run-walking and finished with a cool-down.

All new or returning from injury runners are welcome to join each Saturday – meeting at Leverhulme Park for the next 11 weeks. Find out more at www.burndenroadrunners.co.uk Further afield, at Bedfont Lakes Parkrun, Tim Taylor raced round the two identical laps of Bedfont Lakes Country Park in a superb time of 23:47 – achieving first V60 and position 27 of a field of 144 runners.

Three Burndeners headed to the popular Heaton Park event, all achieving super times. Mark Jackson was flying fast again with a sub-20 19:15 and in position 14 of 749 runners.

Gayle Gerrard was not too far behind Jackson in a swift 24:16, while Adrian Ashburn followed in a speedy 25:03.

Burnden Bee graduate, Ian Mann, represented at Oldham Parkrun – achieving a brilliant 34:34, while fellow Bee graduate, Francesca Caine, was the sole Burndener at Ormskirk Parkrun – finishing in 25:54.

Cheadle Hulme Parkrun also welcomed a Bee as Jennifer Entwistle completed in a super 36:45. Peel Parkrun joined the buzz and welcomed Bee, Sarah Brown, who finished in an excellent 33:52.

Haigh Woodland was visited by three members – Bee supporter, Cheryl Dunleavy, buzzed round in 34:19, ladies’ captain and beginners’ leader, Vicki Hamer, clocked 25:18 and Colm O’Brien finished in 24:33.

Worsley Woods welcomed double act Simon Marland and Sue Blackman to their Out and Back course. Marland finished in 24:01 while Blackman clocked 34:00. The Hopleys visited Blackburn’s Witton Parkrun and achieved great times too – Pete finishing in 20:55 and Liz in 33:19.