Manchester’s Wythenshawe Park played host for the North of England Road Relay Championships on Saturday and Bury AC’s star team of the day was the women’s six-stage A team.

They took a superb eighth place, the highest position the club has finished in many years, and qualified for the national championships.

The relay comprised of two long 8k legs and four short 4.5k ones. Alia Braithwaite covered the first long leg in 30mins 3secs, handing over to Sinead Taylor who completed the second short stage in 16:07. Abigail Warburton ran the third short stage in 16:31 passing over to Chloe Lam-Moores who covered her long stage in 30:04. Caitlyn Johnston covered the penultimate stage in 17:04, handing over to Nicola Ryan who completed the final stage in 17:38 moving the team up to eighth.

The women’s B team finished in 32nd place in a field of 50 teams. The stages were covered by Rachel Marshall (32:33), Sarah Flett (18:36), Beverly McAuley (20:16), Sarah Thomas (32:03), Susan Wheeldon-Gorst (21:08) and Afroditi Kalambouka (21:47). They were the fourth B team to finish.

The men’s team competed over 12 stages, four long and eight short. They took 27th place and, like the women, qualified for the national championships. Jack Griffiths led off on the first long stage in 27:10. Rob Fowler took the second in 15:20, handing over to next long-stage runner, Paul Johnston, who covered his leg in 27:56. Patrick Babb did the fourth stage in 15:21, passing over to Callum Gaunt who covered his long stage in 27:27. Matthew Garside finished the sixth stage in 16:05, handing to Luke Harreld who did the last long stage in 26:39. Team captain Byron Edwards covered the eighth stage in 15:53. The remaining four stages were covered by Alexander Hannay (15:49), Declan Tattersall (16:52), Jordan Harreld (16:20) and Tim Pockney (16:51).

Young javelin star Ben Clarke travelled to Scunthorpe to compete in their winter throws festival and recorded a new personal best of 43.37m in his first throw. His remaining five throws peppered the 40-metre line and the performance not only won the 14-year-old Tottington youngster the competition, but it exceeds the qualifying distance for the nationals and sees him ranked second in the UK in his age group.