TOM Lancashire again pushed the name of Bolton Harriers to the forefront of British Cross-Country running with a superb second place in the seaside resort of Margate last weekend.

In the biggest cross-country meeting in Britain so far this season, Tom found himself sandwiched between Mike Smart of Harrow and Matt Barnes-Smith of Ipswich.

His two rivals appeared to have broken away with Tom isolated in third, but a dramatic late surge saw the Bolton Harrier overhaul the Ipswich athlete as Smart pulled away to victory. Last year's series winner, Smart proved his quality but, with his Northern rival only three seconds behind, will be looking over his shoulder.

The meeting was the third race in the Reebok Cross Challenge, the first race of which Tom won in Liverpool back in October. The Challenge allows the best runners in the country to race each other regularly over six races, and this event was also used as a trial for the European Championships for the GB senior and junior teams. At 16 Tom is too young now, but must have an excellent chance in years to come. His performances also prove that he will be a good bet for a medal in the Championship races still to come in the New Year.

The Llandudno 10 Mile road race in North Wales provided the setting for fine performances by a trio of Bolton veterans. This has been a popular and established event in the North West, and this year was no exception with 650 finishers.

Bolton's star performer was once again Over 65 Jim McNulty, who comfortably won his category in a time of 67 minutes 50, following up his win in Chorley a week earlier.

First Bolton finisher on the day was Dave Dowd, who was fifth in the Over 50 category and just failed to beat the hour mark with 60 minutes 32. He was followed by Ken Fowler who finished well inside the top 100 in 82nd overall.

Burnden Road Runners also took part in the Llandudno 10 miler. Brian Duffy(V45) was the first Burnden runner home in a time of 57:56. Andy Staveley(V40) just missed out on the sub one-hour, recording a time of 1:00:11. In the Ladies race Lesley Fisher(LV40) was first home in her vet category with a time of 1:06:41. Other finish times: Alan Worthington(V40) 1:02:51, Martyn Pollitt(V40) 1:05:11, Dave Hitchen(V50) 1:05:36, Andy Duffy(V40) 1:05:40, Geoff Fenton(V40) 1:08:12, Don Nichol(V45) 1:11:53, Peter Fenton 1:13:33, Neil Nuttall(V55) 1:15:27, Lynn Duffy(LV40) 1:20:13, John Hall(V40) 1:21:15, Jacqui Beevers(LV50) 1:22:16, Tony Wright(V40) 1:24:54, Jeff Dawson 1:29:48, Mohamad Kholasi(V60) 1:31:00, Ken Beevers(V50) 1:33:21.