GWEN Kinloch brought home superb accolades for Burnden in the Northern Masters’ AC 10K Road Championships this week.

Not only did she run a super-quick 43mins 46secs for the Winter Wesham 10K race, achieving fourth lady and second V60, Kinloch was also featured in the best performances table with an age-grade percentage of 89.83, winning her masters’ category and bringing home a gold medal.

Andy Warburton and Tim Taylor also produced excellent performances at Wesham.

Warburton finished third in his age category in 51:24, also bringing home a gold medal for winning his masters’ category, while Taylor finished the 10K in a speedy 48:46 – enjoying the lovely route and conditions despite the bitter headwind.

The Wesham 10K race is one of the North West’s oldest 10K road races – a slightly undulating course taking runners around the lanes of Salwick and Lea Town.

Further afield, Burnden duo Gareth Lowe and David Smith chose sunshine over snowflakes this week as they escaped to Spain to compete in the Benidorm Half Marathon.

The course takes runners right along the promenade at the resort with beautiful views of the Mediterranean Sea at dusk.

Lowe achieved a half marathon personal-best time on the course, finishing in 1:41:17 and Smith followed in 1:52:04.

It was Grand Prix time for Tony Fulop as he raced 10K at Oulton Park’s smooth motor racing circuit - home to many motor racing events, including the British F3 and the British Superbikes Championship, since the 1950s.

Fulop kept his grip throughout despite the undulation and cold conditions and he passed the chequered flag in a turbo-charged 1:06:49.

Mark Jackson was Manchester-bound this week as he conquered Stretford Parkrun – bringing a brilliant result with 18:56 and finishing in 10th overall out of 347 runners.

Pennington Flash saw Pete Hopley finishing in a super 20:10, achieving third overall position in a field of 117.

Heaton Parkrun had three Burnden representatives with Adrian Ashburn clocking 21:45, Gayle Gerrard 24:32 and Chris Greenall 25:51.

Staying close to home were seven Burndeners tackling the Leverhulme Park course.

Andy Dunleavy was first to cross in 21:44 with Francesca Caine next in 28:56 and birthday girl, Linda O’Byrne third in 31:12.

Also finishing were Paul Johnson in 31:58, Sandra Caine in 33:23 and Nia Bell and Debra Hennessey – both finishing in 38:31.