THREE local runners occupied the top-three places in the final Bolton parkrun before Christmas.

Anthony Valentine was first over the line in 17mins 19secs at Leverhulme Park on Saturday.

Running in the VM40-44 age group, the Bolton United Harrier won for an impressive 14th time in 15 appearances to also

record the best age grade score.

He was followed home by Horwich RMI duo Joe Mercer (SM25-29) in 18:08 and Paul Massey (VM45-49) just four seconds behind in 18:22, who also took third place in the best age grade.

For the 15th time in 19 appearances, Sarah Louise Cumber of Halifax Harriers & AC (VW40-44) led the way for the ladies. She crossed the line in overall 13th place in a time of 20:17.

Burnden Road Runner Paula Pilling (VW40-44) took second place and 20th overall when she crossed the line in 21:51, while Sandra Kelly (VW45-49) of Horwich RMI Harriers clinched third in 22:47 for an overall 33rd.

A total of 225 runners from 23 different athletics clubs donned festive hats and costumes to take part in the 247th event. There were 20 first-timers with 23 personal bests recorded.

Following a 21st-placed finish on Saturday, Tony Wall is now third in the men's annual points competition with 2,935 points. The Burnden Road Runner will be hoping to close on leading unattached pair Gary Furness (3,288pts) and Ian Riggs (2,964) in the coming weeks.

Olivia Kearney tops the leaderboard for the ladies. The Bolton United Harriers & AC athlete, who finished in 85th, has 3,558 points with unattached runner Judith Bonnar in second place with 3,237 after her 100th-placed finish.

Runner of the week: Harry Best. On his 48th run, junior runner Harry Best scored a new PB of 35:04.