BURY AC's Ben Coop took a massive 11 seconds off his 5k personal best competing in the high class Mid-Cheshire 5k last Thursday, near the village of Kingsley.

He crossed the line in an impressive 15mins 6secs to take 18th place behind international Charlie Hulson, of Liverpool Harriers.

Coop raced through the 3k mark in 8:59, but frustratingly lost a little pace and missed out on ducking under the 15-minute barrier.

Given the consistency of his performances it will not be long before he becomes a sub-15 athlete.

Luke Harreld was also competing over 5k on Thursday, but at the Media City 5k event at Salford Quays.

He dominated the field and ran home a clear winner in a time of 16:53.

In ninth place overall, but first V50 finisher, was Giles Bennett, whose finishing time was 19:07.

Coop was on the roads again on Saturday, this time stretching his legs at the Heaton parkrun.

He was untroubled by the opposition and came home well clear in 16:36 to give him his 13th win in the popular Saturday morning event.

Sarah Thomas made it a Bury AC double as she was the first women finisher in 20:36, notching her 36th win for the series.

Further afield Hannah Price competed in the Cheshire Half Marathon around Capesthorne Hall on Sunday and had an excellent race, finishing second woman in a time of 1:25:7 – taking eight minutes off her previous half-marathon best performance.

Travelling even further, Byron Edwards made the long journey to Berkshire to compete in the Maidenhead half marathon.

It was a representative match with England Masters taking on the Celtic Masters.

Edwards was representing England in the good-quality field and took 49th place in 1:16:08.

Brandon Quinton competed in Sunday’s Wigan 10k.

The 16-year-old ran a storming race, finishing in fifth place out a massive field of more than 1,500 runners.

He was rewarded with a new personal best of 32:43.