Saturday saw the third instalment of Parkrun Championship, March’s race was Bolton parkrun. 30 Lostockers tackled the challenging Leverhulme Park course in near perfect conditions. Leading the charge was Paul Edwards, who produced a superb run of 20:57 to finish as the club’s first runner home, finishing in 6th position and claim top spot in his age category.
He was followed by Antony Sutton in 21:49 and Andy Kerks in 24:13, while Chris Baker impressed with a Bolton course personal best of 24:15. A host of other runners also celebrated new course PBs, including Gill Baker (29:52), Jason Smith (24:59), Lee Burns (27:38), Rachel Stevens (27:47), Markus Stevens (32:18) and Christine Smith (36:19).
There was a significant milestone for Karen Taylor, who completed her 150th parkrun and Dougie Ainsworth who completed his 25th Parkrun.
In the age categories, Lostock athletes dominated. Sally McCoy delivered one of the standout performances of the day, finishing as 5th female, winning her category in 26:04, recording a course PB and achieving the highest age grading among Lostock runners. Further category wins came from Brian Halton (25:07), Rachel Hancock (26:49), Bev AthertonMcKenna (28:15), Gillian Caldwell (33:17) and Sheila Garewal (32:14), each demonstrating impressive strength on the undulating course.
The club also welcomed several first-time runners to the Bolton course, including Daniel Woods (25:08), Gareth Pratt (26:59) and Paul Lacey (26:58) all of whom handled the route with enthusiasm.
Other results include: Andy Laycock 25:42, Luke Baker 26:27, Jo McManus 26:34 (8th female and 2nd in age category), Mike Berry 26:54, Melonie Goodall 28:09 (2nd in age category), Chris Taylor 29:36, Katie Edern 30:20, Ian Burns 30:42, Jeanette Brandon 31:29, Lynda Hardman 31:51 (3rd in age category) and Anthony Maxwell 33:42.
