THERE was a silver lining for Bury AC in the clouds that hung in the sky over the North West Counties Road Relays in a rain-soaked Delamere Forest on Saturday.

The senior men’s A team finished eighth overall but took silver medal in the Greater Manchester sub-section of the competition. Ben Coop celebrated his birthday in style, bringing the team home in an excellent fifth place in a time of 20:19 for the 6.2k leg. He handed over to Oliver Makinson who ran a storming stage of 20:59, conceding just one place.

The third leg saw a typically strong performance from David Cullen, who recorded 22:04 and handed over to last-leg runner Marcus Dey in ninth position.

Triathlete Dey managed to pull one place back in his 21:02 leg, giving Bury their highest finish in the competition in years.

The B team of Jim Ardin (21:33), Paul Johnston (24:19), Byron Edwards (23:02) and Chris Barrow (25:56) finished 38th overall and 12th out of the Greater Manchester teams.

The C team came 68th (22nd in Greater Manchester) with good performances from Anthony Hallahan (27:03), Gary Crowshaw (25:58), Kamili Bell (24:39) and Alison Dale (33:00).

The senior women’s team of Katie Geelan (25:38), Nicola Harland (28:56) and Fran Pearson (29:04) took 23rd place overall and were eighth out of the Greater Manchester teams.

The B team did not finish as a complete team with Bev Macauley (28:58) and Susan Ward (30:01) covering the first two legs.

Bury’s under-17s women’s team took 10th overall and fifth in Greater Manchester.

Heledd Rimmer covered the first leg in 14:09, handing over to team spirited sprinter/jumper Ella Tyrell who completed her leg in 19:09 before handing over to last-leg runner Freya Bowden, who brought the team home with a leg of 15:28.

The u15 girls were 20th overall and eighth in Greater Manchester.

Grace Gibson took on the first leg, her 15:40 effort giving the team 35th place.

Erin Kenyon brought the team up to 30th with her 14:08 second-stage run then Freya Potts cut through the field with a brilliant 12:10 effort securing 20th place.

The u13 boys' team of Finley Collings (12:56), Jayden Barlow (14:46) and Albert Cottam (14:59) took 29th overall and were sixth Greater Manchester team.

There was a turn up in the u13 girls' competition with the B team of Connie Potts (13:33), Summer Whitfield (13:49) and Nyah Coates (14:18) finishing in 14th overall, one place ahead of the A team trio of Reilly Carson (13:08), Lola Potts (14.:10) and Esther McGrath (14:56). They finished sixth and seventh Greater Manchester teams respectively.

In the u11s' competition, the boys' team of Jake Norton (4:45), Thomas Gibson (5:04) and Thomas Donnelly (4:37) took 17th place and were fifth Greater Manchester team, while the girls' trio of Jemima Miles (5:21), Lily Crow (5:33) and Amelia Hancock (5:45) took 28th place and were 10th in the Greater Manchester competition.

The next road relay competition will be the Northern championships at Sportcity on Sunday, September 23.