Manchester Area Cross Country League, round four

In the opening race at Tatton Park, the Warrington Athletics Club youngster came home second in the boys’ under 11s race in a time of 10mins 45secs.

Clubmate Eddie Walker was close behind him as he finished in 19th place.

In the girls race, counting runners Evie May Williams (13th), Amelie Johnson (15th) and Eva Hayes (16th) finished just five seconds apart to guide Warrington to third place in the team standings, with Grace Rashud (33rd) and April Rimmer (48th) completing the squad.

Overall, 29 members of the Victoria Park-based club took part in the competition’s fourth round with some impressive results.

In the senior men’s race, Joe Buckley was fastest in the under 20s age group as his time of 32mins 25secs was good enough for ninth place overall.

Joe Buckley in action

He was followed home by Dave Watson and Steve Watmough, who finished 10 seconds apart in 93rd and 99th places respectively.

Watson’s time of 36mins 31secs saw him finish third in the over 50s while Watmough was second in the over 55s.

Steve Burthem placed third in the over 60s age group and 253rd overall, with Mark Gregory completing the Warrington contingent as he came home 329th.

The senior women’s race saw Ellen Turnbull finish as the sixth-fastest under 20s runner as she finished 48th overall. She was later joined across the finish line by Faye Lawton (81st) and Anne Gregory (183rd).

Another runner in good form was Imogen Wharton, and she continued on that path by coming second in the girls’ under 15s race in 16mins 32secs, with clubmate Alice Nicholson not far behind in 19th.

Alice Nicholson, left, and Imogen Wharton

Jacob Pryor came home 12th in the boys’ race in the same age group and combined with Tom Welsby (30th) and Tom Dawson (44th) to finish eighth in the team standings.

Ellie Barker (15th), Cara Gregory (21st), Sarah Ashcroft (38th), Sophie Parkinson (46th) and Orlaith Clarke-Malone (57th) formed the girls’ under 13s squad, with the first three runners counting towards a ninth-place team finish.

In the same age group, Elliot Taylor and Thomas Darbyshire finished 50th and 74th respectively in the boys’ race.

Only two Warrington runners took part in the under 17s race, with Joy Ashcroft-Carter finishing 10th in 24mins 55secs and Molly Wormald 21st in 29mins 27secs.

The following day, Watmough led home the Warrington contingent at the Essar 4 Villages half-marathon, which incorporated the Northern Masters Championships.

He came home 40th in 1hour 19mins 25secs, placing him fourth overall in the Northern Masters and allowing him to claim gold in the over 55s age group.

Next home was Colin Bishop, who won over 60s gold having come 46th while running for second-claim club Helsby.

Louise Blizzard was next to finish in 1hour 30mins 27secs – the third-fastest time in the women’s over 45s age group – while Dave Gill completed the club’s runners with a third-place over 60s finish having clocked 1hour 31mins 47secs.