BURY AC continued their strong start to the winter season, showing good form at the Northern Road Relays in Warrington.

But there was heartache for the under-13s boys, who were unable to follow up their bronze medal in the Greater Manchester relays after young Oliver Donnelly fell on the 3k course at Birchwood Business Park and broke his collarbone.

Good runs from Ben Forrest – 11mins 6secs for seventh on the first leg of the 3k course and 10th fastest in the race overall – and Francis Woodcock, 11:33, lifted Bury into sixth place before Oliver’s fall.

They were set to post Bury’s best-placed finish in the race, but that honour went to the u15s boys side, who came home in 10th on the 3k course.

Marcus Dey ran a superb first leg, finishing third in a time of 10:07, which was the fourth fastest leg in the race.

Bury slipped to 13th place after Sam Brooks clocked 11:16 for the second leg, but George Yates recovered three places with his time of 10:54. Both Yates and Dey are eligible for this age group next year.

Bury’s u17s girls also ran strongly to finish 13th.

Sophie Whittaker came home fifth on the first leg, recording 12:33 for the 3.6k course, which made her joint-10th fastest overall.

Eleanor Boyle, with 14:22, and Lauren Booth, 13:54, brought the team home.

Ellie Carter led the way for Bury’s u13s girls, bringing the team home in 20th place on the first leg, recording 12:43 for the 3k course.

Daisy Worthington’s run of 13:02 lifted Bury to 16th and Hattie Vaughan recorded a time of 12:47 to help them to a promising 14th place.

Injury and illness prevented the u15s girls fielding a complete team, but Lucy Alcock continued to show good form with a run of 13:16 for 35th on the first leg, with Jenna Allen-Cartwright running 14.21 to lift Bury a further three places.

The same was true for the u17s boys, with Harry Stainton running 11:41 for 26th place and Iestyn Rimmer recording 13:11 as the team placed 31st at the end of the second leg.

Injury and university commitments deprived Bury of two-thirds of their North West silver medal winning team.

In a field of 77 starters, Bury finished 37th overall. Donna Cartwright ran superbly on a very competitive first leg to finish 27th in 24:28 for the 6k course. She was followed by Lucy Hodson, 26:21, Nicola Harland 27:56 and Mel Monks 26:51.

The men’s race saw 140 teams to the start line. Bury maintained a solid position throughout the race to record 67th overall.

David Cullen led the team off, running 21:19, followed by Ben Coop, 22:08, Bryn Davies, 22:38, Luke Harrled, 22:23, Byron Edwards 22:54 and Colin Davies, Bryn’s father, bringing the team home with 23:03. The B team was incomplete, but Giles Bennett recorded a time of 24:29, Rob Granby 26:01, Adam Connell 24:24 and Mark Johnson 25:09.