ON a clear sunny Saturday morning, Bolton United Harriers cross country teams and athletes set out to Bury for the first race in this years Red Rose League.

The course was firm but muddy in places, but this didn't stop all of Bolton's runners performing outstandingly.

Three of the Senior Men snatching the 3rd, 4th and 5th positions-Gary Council, Andy Parker and Nick Kay. Nick Kay also had an exceptional race, as he was the 1st junior home. Tony Duffy finished 14th, Paul Turner finished 18th and David Shaw coming home in 21st place. Bolton United Harriers senior team finished 1st overall with 52 points, 2nd was Horwich RMI with 64 points, 3rd was Rosendale Harriers with 105 points. In the Ladies race, Bolton Harriers Dawn Vallely finished in 15th place with a time of 27:28.

Not only did the senior men succeed, but also Bolton Harriers under 17 men did exceptionally well with the team finishing 1st overall. Tom Lancashire had a flying race by being the first runner home finishing 1st in a time of 19:20! Tim Ellis finished 2nd overall with a superb time of 20:34 and Matthew Lang completed the race finishing 15th in a time of 24:08. This meant that they finished 1st overall with 16 points. 2nd team to finish was Bury AC with 20 points, closely followed by Oldham and Royton Harriers and AC.

Bolton United Harriers Senior Men,s Vet team was also out in-force finishing overall in 3rd position. Tony Duffy was Bolton Harriers first runner home finishing 3rd with a time of 35:21, closely followed by Paul Turner in 6th position, following Paul Turner was Eric Ranicar in 10th position with Alan Fielding bringing the team home to a finish in 38th position.

Under 13 boys had a good race in finishing 3rd with 57 points. Louis Higginson was Bolton Harriers 1st runner home with a time of 9:48, 2nd Bolton Harrier under 13 boy to finish was Matthew Ellis finishing 22nd followed by Anthony Wibberly in 23rd place. In the Under 13 girls race, Bolton Harriers finished in 5th place, with some superb running by Elizabeth Holt finishing in 4th position, 2nd runner home was Rachel Pounds with a time of 11:02 and the final Bolton Harrier runner was Jemma Costello finishing in 23rd place. Only one boy was running in the under 15,s race-Stephen Wibberly. He had an amazing race by finishing the race in 1st position with a time of 13:43.

In the Under 15,s girls race, Bolton Harriers team had a tremendous race by finishing one point behind Bury AC to finish in 2nd place. 3rd place was Oldham and Royton Harriers AC with 22 points and in 4th position was Horwich Harriers with 37 points. Anna Lancashire and Katie Smith had superb races, Anna finished 1st and Katie Smith was right behind Anna and finished in 2nd place. Lindsey Jones brought the team home by finishing 15th.

Overall it was a superb day for Bolton Harriers, with 2 teams finishing in first position and 3 members finishing 1st in their races. It was a successful day for the Bolton Harriers athletes and confirms their claims to be THE best club in the area.