SAM Fairhurst kept up the Horwich Harriers’ tradition of doing well at the Rivington Trail races with victory in the 10-mile challenge.

He only joined the Harriers last year and has used the track sessions led by Martyn Bell to build up a custom running programme that has also included this year finishing second recently in the Trotters race and third at the Standish Hall trail race in February.

Fairhurst won by a margin of more than four minutes and joins a club list that features James Kevan who won the trail half marathon by more than six minutes in 2019.

In this week’s trail race Linda Webb was second F60.

There was also an age-category win for Alison Mort at F40 in the Wardle Skyline fell race which is the third fixture in this year’s Run the Moors Grand Prix in which several local clubs compete for a set of handsome trophies and the team prizes. Mort now leads the series F40 category.

Gary Chadderton was second M60 in the same race and Jodie Adamson took fourth place for women overall showing again, as a relative newcomer, the ability to be up there with the best in fell races.

Matt Fawthrop, another regular track beneficiary, was the Harriers’ first runner home in the race.

On the fell scene, Easter Saturday will see the return of the club’s iconic Rivington Pike fell race to its usual date in the calendar after a temporary move to September last year.

The Harriers will be out in force tomorrow to marshal, while several other members will run in the race.

Rob Jackson completed 30 consecutive Pike races from 1984 to 2014 but decided then to concentrate on track and road races and to great effect as he showed again last weekend at the Tatton Park 10k, which attracted almost 600 runners. He finished 21st overall and as a M55 was the first M50 in 39mins 38secs.

At the Leigh junior parkrun, Grace Freary and Gabriella Collings made it a winning one-two for Horwich.

Meanwhile, the previous day, Gabriella’s family had a good ay at Heaton Parkrun with dad Ian finishing fifth, brother Lucas second under-18 and grandad Ste Williams first M65 with an 80-per-cent-plus age-graded time.

Elsewhere, Michael Crook was second V70 at Pennington Flash and one of the club’s fell running legends, and former national champion, Paul Murray was first M80 at Bolton.

Gillian Smith was first F70 at Haigh Woodland, Richard Howarth was second overall at Preston and Charlotte Wilkinson was the second female at Witton.

But the top prize for Harriers at parkrun this week goes to Luke Brindle, an under-20, who was first at the Monsal Parkrun on the former railway line out-and-back course in the Peak District.

On the track in the Blackpool, Wyre & Fylde AC winter warmer event, there was a series of second places for young Horwich athletes including Archie Parker with a new personal-best time in the u13 100m; Charlie Cowburn as an u13 in the 800m; and for the u20s at 800m Emma Bradley had a season’s best and Aidan McKenna had a PB - all in finishing second.