BOLTON Harrier Scott Sunderland smashed his personal best time at the Greater Manchester Half Marathon.

And he was joined at the Great Manchester Run event by clubmate Linzi Jones who ran the 10k.

Sunderland has been a regular attendee and flying in training recently, and he has also been putting in lots of long-distance runs in his own time around Farnworth and Bolton.

The young Land Rover Design Engineer is shrinking PBs faster than his waistline, and is running better than the cars he helps to produce.

He obliterated his best ever half marathon time by 23 minutes with a new PB of 1hr 30mins, having aimed for a sub 1:40:00.

He said: “After the recent Manchester Marathon I was looking for another big race to participate in.

“The Great Manchester Run is one I’ve wanted to do for a while and I really enjoyed the experience.

“I started slowly but soon hit my stride and felt comfortable throughout. I upped my pace in the last 5k and had enough left for a sprint finish.”

Jones, meanwhile, is a volunteer and coach at Bolton Harriers, helping run the Falcons kids group along with her dad Gwylim Jones.

This also involves giving up time at the weekends attending athletics events. She is a busy mum with two daughters and works as a swimming teacher - basically she is Bolton Harriers answer to Superwoman.

She has recently joined the Endurance Group to help with her own running and has made a solid start with just under 55:00 in the 10k.

She said: “It was my first 10k in 13 years. I didn’t expect to get a good time.

“It was a great experience and I enjoyed the atmosphere with a big crowd cheering all the runners on.”

Elsewhere, Hannah Kelly ran at the Loughborough International on Sunday.

She competed for the National Athletics League in the 400m, coming third in 54.1secs.

She then changed teams and ran for England in the first leg of the 4x400. England lead from gun to tape and ended up winning by 40m.

The teams involved were England, Scotland, Wales, GB U20s, Loughborough University and the National Athletics League.

The previous Wednesday, saw the Blackstone Edge Fell Race in the South West Pennines.

Part of the FRA 50@50 Series, Blackstone Edge is a category AS Fell Race, covering 5.6k with 366m of climbing.

One intrepid Blue Vest took to the start line in the form of Mark Garner.

Not fazed by any type of race, Garner is a regular attendee at all manner of events.

He said: “Blackstone Edge is only a short fell race but the incline to the top is 20 per cent.

“Most of time you are pushing off your legs to maintain a steady pace to reach the top.

“The ground was boggy in parts and I had a few falls - that’s the beauty of fell running.

“I managed to pass a fair few on the downhill section and came in at 49 minutes in 130th place.

“I know I still have some improvement in me and aim to show it on the next one.”