HORSMAN PULLS IN THE NEW YEAR

The final day of 2025 saw Burnden revellers celebrating the New Year early with Trail Blazing Events and the Trails and Ales 10K, which finishes with a pie, a pint and a party.

Before the clock struck midnight on a freezing Bolton, the sounds of a bag piper could be heard as runners set off to tackle the Horwich trails. It’s a tough course with ups, downs, more ups, boulders, rivers, mud, bogs, gates, monuments and more but with the pleasing strains of Auld Lang Syne to pipe you back home again!

Stephen Horsman was Burnden’s first runner in – beating the rest in 1:06:42 and claiming 3rd MV60.

Sam Ashton was next to finish in 1:08:12 and Vicki Hamer took 3rd Burndener and 1st Burnden lady in 1:12:27. Anne Ferguson was 2nd Burnden lady and took 2nd FV60 in 1:14:16.

Other results – Andy Norman – 1:13:14, Ed Ashton – 1:15:12, Andy Staveley – 1:16:22, Phillip Fryer – 1:16:39, Jane Forrest – 1:17:18, Shirley Staveley – 1:18:59, Colm O’Brien – 1:25:02, Lyall Mew – 1:31:00, Kimberley Lowe – 1:31:05, Ravi Patel – 1:31:06.

STARTING THE YEAR OFF IN STYLE!

New Year, New Me doesn’t really exist for Burnden as we’re out and about all the days of the year! But New Year’s Day is an extra special one as it’s usually a late night on the 31st.

The range of different activities show how ambitious and dedicated our members were at making it to a 5K (or something else!) on the first day of the year.

The Dunleavys chose the Clowbridge 5K in Burnley where Andy claimed the crown for 1st MV65. Described as a two lap fast and flat trail course around Clowbridge Reservoir, it is an ideal choice for a brisk New Year run. Andy completed the course in 22:03 and Cheryl finished in 38:26.

Lisa Berry and a friend took an extremely cold dip into Salford Quays for the charity USwim. Many will ask why you’d brave that, with the weather sub-zero, but as the photo in the Manchester Evening News shows, Lisa was just having a berry good time!

Simon Marland deserves a loud cheer this week as he unbelievably notched up his 350th different parkrun venue just after New Year’s Day on 3rd January. With wife and fellow member Sue, Simon is famous in the club for being a founding member and also for his parkrun tourism. The couple visited a snow-covered Heritage Coastal Path parkrun in Easington where Simon crossed the line in 26:26 and Sue finished in 37:07.

Here are the other New Year parkruns where Burnden popped up.

Alexandra Park – Michael Kermode – 18:28 (PB), Hamad Ali – 25:09, Mumtaz Patel – 32:36

Haigh Woodland – Carol Richardson – 36:37

Heaton Park – Alexander Shield – 23:18, Gayle Gerrard – 23:48, Connor Barrett – 26:13, Luisa Shield – 26:16, Catherine Shield – 28:18, Ryan Moore – 28:19, Ivan Brown – 28:45, Phil Holden – 29:21, Sarah Brown – 31:09

Pennington Flash (with pyjamas!) – Gary Avison – 24:43, Phillip Fryer – 26:51, Lyall Mew – 27:12, Gareth Doherty – 28:08, Marcus Chester – 28:09, Gareth Lowe – 30:19, Jenni Partington – 30:21, Kelly Johnson-Owen – 33:53 (PB), Luke Newell – 37:07 (PB), Vicki Hamer – 37:47, Jennifer Entwistle – 40:36, Jennifer Forkin – 40:36 (Course PB), Ian Mann – 51:22.

Riverside Park, Glenrothes – Amy Smith – 31:24