LAST weekend saw Bolton Harriers in action in two popular local cross country events.

On Saturday the East Lancashire Championships took place at Middleton, while a day later a number of the club's youngsters competed in Sale in the Over the Bales races.

Many of the athletes who have been so successful in the Red Rose league chose not to compete at Middleton and those who did were faced with a difficult course, which mixed deep mud with stony uneven paths. As if the terrain wasn't enough of a worry, events took an unusual turn when the Under 17 Men's race was delayed for 15 minutes.

Once underway, Tim Ellis struggled to find his recent good form, but still managed a solid fourth. Matthew Lang was 11th, but unfortunately Tom Lancashire did not start due to illness.

Stephen Wibberley was also fourth in the Under 15s, while the club's top Under 13 runner, Louis Higginson, finished 14th.

In the senior race, first counter was Dave Shaw in 18th. This was impressive, as he had only just returned from the Lanzarote International Challenge, where he finished 12th overall. Traveling with friends from Horwich Harriers, Shaw tackled three tough races, one of which involved running up a volcano, so Middleton obviously posed few problems. Gareth Walsh was 40th and Eric Ranicar 60th and sixth Over 50.

At Sale on Sunday it was the club's youngest competitor who fared the best over the bales, as Joanna Denton took an excellent eighth place from 60 runners in the U9s girls, race. Runners have to negotiate hay-bales as well as the usual mud patches. In the Under 11 boys race Martin Grundy was the club's top finisher in 17th. The Under 11 girls turned out a full team, finishing seventh with Katharine Fay (24th), Holly Peatfield (35th), Sian Pledger (42nd) and Olivia Fay (45th).