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ATHLETICS: Challenge for Harriers
From the Bolton Evening News, first published Tuesday 16th Nov 1999.
FIVE Bolton Harriers, four of them with their coach, took part in the Ray Codling Memorial 5km at Littleborough. The event was held in memory of police inspector Ray Codling who was shot and killed at Birch Service Station on the M62. This was the second road race in three weeks that this group had done together. The race started and finished in the square at Littleborough.
With Paul Taylor of Border and Alan Buckley of Gateshead running meant this was not going to be a slow start. The first Bolton runner to show up front was young Nick Kay as he tried to stay with the pace set by the two front runners.
But, his fast start took its toll on the long steep hill up to Hollingworth Lake, where he was passed by team-mate David Shaw who then opened a gap on Kay as he went on to finish eighth in the race. Kay held on to finish 12th and was first junior male.
Fastest sprinter
In the first race the group's main objective was how many minutes could they beat the coach by. But this time the focal point was a family duel between Samantha Aspen, who had just turned 16 the week before, and her father Paul. It was Paul who started fastest and opened a 200 yard gap that he held until they turned for the long down hill of three quarters of a mile to the finish where Sam, Bolton's fastest lady sprinter on the track last season, put her speed to work, coming on to her father's shoulder with 600 yards to go and then went past him but Sam stopped at the wrong line some 50 yards short and had to start running again just beating her father by one second.
Josie Greenhalgh, running just her second race after having her second baby, is showing great improvement. Just finishing some 30 seconds behind Sam and Paul. The coach Gordon Entwistle, now running for Horwich RMI Harriers and looking a little more rounded these days than he did some years ago,wobbled and puffed his way round the course to record his slowest time ever.
Converted for the new archive on 14 July 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.
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