In a week where there was not a great deal of action for Horwich Harriers, one of the club’s Ireland internationals, Killian Mooney, was back on his home turf at the Dublin City half-marathon.
On a gently undulating course which started and finished near the banks of the River Liffey and featured a blast past the famous stadium at Croke Park, he stormed his way to overall victory ahead of more than 11,000 finishers, taking the tape in an excellent time of 1hr 5mins 40secs - more than a minute ahead of the next racer home.
On much hillier terrain, Dan Gilbert fancied another trip to the Lake District for something a little bit shorter when he raced the Coledale Horseshoe.
This 8.5-mile race packs in more than 3,000 feet of ascent, starting from Braithwaite Lodge, around three miles west of Keswick.
Despite the ascent, rough terrain and gale-force winds on more open and higher ground, Gilbert tackled Grizedale Pike and Crag Hill en route to finish 58th out of 310 finishers in a fine 1:35:43.
Several parkruns saw a good turnout of Harriers.
Brendan Bolland travelled the furthest for his parkrun fix as he popped up in the far south west of Ireland to run around Killarney House. He finished exactly 100th in a very respectable 27:38.
The fastest effort came, unsurprisingly, from young Isaac Battye at Endcliffe Parkrun, in Sheffield, as he shot out of the blocks and romped home in 16:25 - more than 30 seconds ahead of the next finisher, achieving a personal best on the course in the process.
The Middletons alliteratively ran in Marple as Jason clocked 24:09 and Janet came home in 32:39, while Gail Maxfield ran in Glossop for her first time and broke 30 minutes with a time of 29:10 as second F65.
Gordon Stone made more progress at Worsley Woods with an improving time of 32:03, Robert Seddon clocked a rapid time on Stretford’s famously fast layout with an excellent 18:51, while Georgia Heath clocked up a well-earned personal best by three seconds on the same course, coming over the line in 20:21.
Dominic Jones went to Lancaster’s twisty, hilly course and came up with a very tidy 22:40, while in a clash of youth versus experience, Harry Yates and Rob Jackson battled each other to practically a standstill at Peel, where youthful Yates stayed ahead when it mattered in a fast 18:17 to finish seventh. Nevertheless, Jackson produced his best time of the year in 18:27 to finish ninth and heads on to future 10K races happy with his form.
Isaac Parker also ran 18:17 at Storey’s Field, in Cambridge, while five turned up at Haigh Woodland. Richard O’Reilly was the first home in 20:11 after his exploits in Malaga, Paul and Jeannette Lewis were the next two home in 26:33 and 27:38, respectively, while Andrew Storey got home in 28:45 and the evergreen Tony Hesketh continued to defy age and the 30-minute barrier in 29:09.
