Trio of Harriers attend the Famous Italian Relay Race, Trofeo Vanoni

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Ian Conroy finally assembled a Horwich team at the famous Italian Relay Race, Trofeo Vanoni. Whilst many Harriers have competed for their respective international teams in the past, this was the first time a squad had assembled wearing the iconic red vests with black chevrons of the RMI. Dan Gilbert, Julian Goudge and Conroy’s brother Patrick, drafted in after Ian was picked to run for Ireland, travelled to Alpine Lombardy to tackle the 68th edition of the three stage multi-terrain race.

(l-r) Patrick Conroy, Dan Gilbert and Julian Goudge at the Trofeo Vanoni relay race in the Italian Alps

The course has plenty of hills to spice things up – 1,500ft in 4.25 miles – but the Horwich veterans, with their fell running pedigree, were prepared. Gilbert filed this report:

The race starts in the center of town, threading through picturesque squares and cobbled streets before climbing steeply up winding stony paths. The route continues on a mix of tarmac, muddy woodland paths and forest roads up to the hillside hamlet of Arzo. The descent is more direct and plummets back to Morbegno over mixed terrain. The most popular section for the enthusiastic crowd is a tricky jump from a wall onto a steep grassy bank with just under a mile to go. Julian achieved an excellent time of 37m53s, fastest in the team, to finish the first leg in 72nd overall. Patrick was on leg 2 and Dan provided the denouement. He crossed the line 17th out of 45 teams in the 35-50 category and 102nd overall.

On home ground, the Red Rose and South-East Lancashire Cross Country Leagues had a joint fixture at Heaton Park. In Red Rose, Leo Rutter (14th) and Josh Bruton (26th) were in action in the U11 boys’. Matilda MacDonald had a brilliant run to place 10th in the U11 Girls’. Ben Essex-Crosby continued where he left off last season to finish 4th in the U13 boys’, with Louis Yates in 13th and Toby MacDonald 27th. Toby’s elder brother Matthew was 15th in the U15 boys’, whilst Ava Winstanley (5th), Isobel Reid (8th) and Millie Reid (10th) dominated the team prize in the U15 Girls’. Lauren Freary was 10th in the U17 women’s race. Helen MacDonald wasn’t to be outdone by her children, placing 3rd V40 in the Women’s race, whilst Mary White won her V70 category. In the senior men’s race, James Scott-Farrington was a strong 6th, whilst XC captain Ryan Snee led the from the front in 21st. Mark Walsh was 2nd V55 and Doug Fleming 2nd V65. Gareth Webb retained his V65 title at the Lancashire 5 Mile championships in a time of 33:55. The Green Drive 5 in Lytham also saw Adrian Bramham scoop the V60 title 24 hours after competing in the British Fell Relays in North Wales.

Rob Jackson concluded his 60th birthday celebrations with a 24-hour trip to York. Never knowingly without his running shoes, he took on the local Parkrun. Age is showing no signs of catching up with him, as he scooted round in 18:47. This netted him 1st in age grading, 1st in his (new) age category and 10th overall out of a remarkable 795 runners.