FIVE Bury AC members took to the streets of London for the 35th running of the London Marathon. The race saw one of the finest international fields ever assembled with Kenya’s Eliud Kipchoge hitting the tape first in 2hrs 4mins 42secs.

First Bury athlete home was Byron Edwards who was delighted to break the three-hour barrier with 2:58:02. Edwards passed fellow Bury athlete Paul Thompson in the second half of the race, but Thompson held on well to secure 2:59:17. The final Bury runner to finish was Dave Flood, running an even paced race and finishing strongly to record a respectable 3:56:24.

Bury had two young athletes representing the Northwest Team in the three-mile London Mini Marathon races.

In the under-13 boys race Ben Forrest ran strongly to take 46th place in 17:39, more than a minute ahead of Romeo Beckham. In the under-15 boys event Marcus Dey produced a very nippy 16:04 to take 42nd place. Both races had in excess of 300 competitors as they combined the London Borough races and the British Championships.

Three other junior club members represented Greater Manchester at the National Sportshall finals in Sportscity on Saturday.

Grace Goodsell helped the Greater Manchester under-13s girls team to a silver medal in the 2x2 lap relay. In the same age category, Daisy Worthington took 17th place in the standing long jump with 2.12m and 20th in the four-lap race with 49.8.

For the under-13s boys Patrick Clarke finished an excellent fifth place in the vertical jump with 61cm, missing out on a silver medal by just 1cm. Greater Manchester finished 7th in both the boys and girls events.

Eight Bury athletes competed in the Trafford Medal Meeting on Sunday. In the u15s girls' events Harriet Vaughan secured a win in the high jump with a 1.38m effort, and consolidated this performance with two third places in the 200m (29:23) and discus (11.08m). For the u15s boys, James Coghlan produced a powerful run in the 100m taking second place in 12:59. Daniel Matthews took fifth place in his race with 15:42.

Bury had another winner in the u13s girls events with Charlotte Speakman-Farnworth taking the 800m race in 2:41:77 and followed this with a 3.73m leap in the long jump and 14:05 in the 70m hurdles.

Also in this age group, Daisy Worthington showed she had recovered from her county representative duties the day before with a 23:23 150m (third), a 3.97m long jump (seventh) and a 17.67m javelin throw (second).

Amy Garroch produced a 23:41 150m run (fourth place), a 14.81 run in the 70m hurdles (second) and a 12.02 discus throw (second).

In the u11s boys, Bury’s sole competitor was Gilbert Vaughan who took third place in his long jump (3.11m) and fourth in his 600m (2.03.53). Erin Garroch was similarly the only Bury athlete in the u11s girls events taking fifth place in the 75m (12.84), seventh in her 600m (2:16:69) and 19th place in the quality long jump competition with a leap of 2.59m.

The Bolton 10k took place in Leverhulme Park on the Sunday morning, with four Bury competitors.

Winner of the FJ category and first Bury athlete home in 31st place overall was Sophie Whittaker, completing the undulating course in 40:25. Giles Bennett was Bury’s next finisher in 42nd place with 41:30 and taking fourth in M45 category. Next back was Colin Smith producing 46:23 to secure 126th position. Lauren Booth was sixth FJ to finish and recorded a time of 48:20.

Leverhulme Park also played host to the Bolton Parkrun the previous day. Iestyn Rimmer was the first Bury runner home in 16th place overall, but first JM 15-17, with a new personal best of 20:50. Dave Carroll produced a 22:05 effort in 28th place with Graeme McDonald, Heledd Rimmer and Nick Rimmer taking 61st, 62nd and 63rd places with runs of 24:24, 24:35 and 24:38 respectively. Heledd was the first JW 11-14 finisher. Young Jessica Carroll recorded 31:31 for her run.

Bury's senior athletes travel to Stretford next Sunday for their Northern Athletics Track and Field League match. Bury will be competing against teams from Trafford, Stockport, Halifax, Spenborough and Pendle in the first of four league fixtures.