BOLTON Harriers will have a secret weapon in their ranks in Sunday’s Northern 12-Stage Road Relay – Britain’s number one 1,500m runner.

Tom Lancashire will take time off racing against world and Olympic champions to try to help his hometown club reach the national finals of the annual road relay event for the first time in years. The 25- year-old will use the race in Catterick as part of his preparations for this year’s World Championships and next year’s London Olympics.

He will run the first leg at the Northerns in North Yorkshire, and hopes to give his 11 fellow Bolton Harrier team-mates a big lead.

“I’ve just finished a really good cross country season and this race fits in nicely with my preparations for the track season,” he said.

“I’m doing the first stage of the race, the longer stage at just over four miles.

“It’s shorter than I’ve been running at cross country which is what I want because I’m coming down in distance now.

“That’s the way my training is going and I’ll keep coming down until I’m doing my first 800m and 1500 races about the start of May.

“If we qualify this weekend, we’ll be in the nationals in April. I don’t think Bolton have qualified for the nationals for the last few years. Hopefully, we can put that right.

“I like to run for the club whenever I can and this race fits in well with where I’m at with training.”

Lancashire will continue his preparations with his first track race of the season – a 5,000m in California – next month, then a 3,000m in Britain before moving to his specialised 1500m.