BURY Athletics Club duo Josh Birmingham and Oliver Donnelly competed in Sunday’s Trafford 10k.

Hopes of personal best times were thwarted by the blustery conditions but the flat course saw plenty of entries from the best runners in the country – with Wales’s James Hunt winning in a brilliant 29 minutes 44 seconds.

Birmingham ran very well to take 44th place in the quality field with a time of 32.32.

Given his 32.11 performance at the Dewsbury 10k on February 2 it will not be long before he ducks inside the 32 minute barrier.

Donnelly, who is 17-years-old, ran well to take 124th position, crossing the line in 35.22.

The previous day Bury’s men’s captain Byron Edwards notched up another first finish in the Heaton Parkrun.

His time of 17.16 was enough to see him clear of the field and increases his number of first finishes to 19.

Young Freya Potts was first female finisher in a new best of 19.32 and Sarah Thomas took third place in 19.49.

A little further down the field came father/daughter duo of John and Harriet Griffiths clocking 23.17 and 23.16 respectively.

Club member Colin Smith was one of thousands of disappointed athletes whose hopes were dashed when the organisers closed the general field for the Tokyo Marathon.

While the entry is carried over to next year’s event, Smith had nevertheless completed 100s of miles of training in preparation for event which will be the final of the Big Six city marathons that he has completed.

Next weekend sees the Inter Counties Cross Country Championships at Prestwold Park in Loughborough.

Bury Athletics Club have seven members who have been selected for the Greater Manchester squad in the competition.

They are Ben Coop (Senior Men), Josh Birmingham (Senior Men), Hannah Price (Senior Women), Rachel Marshall (Senior Women), Heledd Rimmer (Under 20 Women), Freya Potts (Under 15 Girls) and Emily Purdy (Under 13 Girls).