Lostock AC members descended on Pennington Flash on Saturday morning for the latest round of the club’s Parkrun Championship, with an outstanding turnout and plenty of fantastic performances across the field.
Pennington Flash is known for being a challenging Parkrun consisting of 3 laps around a field. The 3 laps do require participants to run up a steep hill 3 times but you are rewarded with beautiful views of the flash.
What goes up also must come down so you can enjoy coming back down the hill! This alarm results in a fast finish.
Leading the way was Anthony Sutton, who was first home for Lostock AC in an impressive 21:41, finishing 7th overall and claiming 1st place in his age category. Rachel Hancock produced another superb run, crossing the line in 24:51 to finish 2nd female overall, while also taking 1st place in her age category.
There was a remarkable haul of 14 course personal bests, showing the strength of the club’s current form. Congratulations to Greg Kilshaw (23:21), Luke Baker (24:11), Andy Laycock (25:37), Lee Burns (27:23), Louise Read (27:26), Mary White (27:26), Terri Aldred (27:32), Beverley Atherton-McKenna (27:46), Rachel Stevens (27:55), George Iveson (30:29), Dougie Ainsworth (30:35), Sheila Garewal (30:40), Gill Baker (30:42), Rachel Walker (32:32) and Markus Stevens (34:10), all of whom recorded course PBs.
There was further success in the age categories. Brian Halton (23:51), Mary White and Beverley Atherton-McKenna all finished 1st in their respective age categories, with White also recording the highest age grading of the entire event. Finishing 2nd in their age categories were Louise Read (27:26), Rachel Stevens and Sheila Garewal, while Luke Baker, Tony Maxwell (27:02) and Terri Aldred all claimed 3rd place.
Other results include: Matt Withers 26:13, Chris Baker 28:21, Gareth Pratt 29:34, Katie Edern 30:18, Ian Burns 30:25, Emma Chadwick 32:32 and Lynda Hardman.
The results for the Parkrun championship are extremely close and there is still all to play for. The next instalment is Clarence Park on 5 September 2026.
Lostock AC were also representing Bolton in Parkruns across the UK. Janet Rhodes (27:20) headed to Agnew, Dane Wood (23:25) went to Warrington and Mark Shuttleworth (23:42) was second in his age category at Worsley Woods. Sally McCoy was joined by Carol Ensor (34:22) at Haigh Woodland. McCoy had a fantastic run achieving a Haigh Parkrun PB of 25:31 securing first in her age category.
Lostock AC were honoured to win the Unsung Project of the Year award at the England Athletics Regional Volunteer Awards. The award recognises a project or initiative that delivers meaningful impact within the club or wider community. Lostock were rewarded for the Lostock Community Project that commenced in 2026. The project involved working with Primary ... England Athletics Regional Volunteer Awards
It was an international outing for two Lostockers as Gill and Chris headed to Denmark to take part in the World Athletics Road Running Championship taking place in Copenhagen. Gill took on the 5k race on the Saturday afternoon, enjoying the atmosphere and excitement of race day as she represented Lostock on the streets of ... World Athletics Road Running Championship Copenhagen
Amager Strandpark Chris Baker 25:37 Gill Baker 32:28 Bolton Parkrun Brian Halton 25:11 (2nd in age category) Andy Laycock 25:44 Lee Burns 27:31 Mary White 28:53 (1st in age category) Heather Soden 29:59 (3rd in age category) Ian Burns 32:34 Katie Edern 32:41 (100th Parkrun) Sally McCoy 32:42 Janet Rhodes 32:43 Lynda Hardman 35:10 Rachel ... Katie’s 100th Parkrun