There was a fantastic trio of first placings for Buxton AC athletes last weekend, not to mention a handful of personal bests and veteran category wins. Distances ranged from 5K through to 10K and all the way up to the mammoth ultra distance of 30 miles.

First up was Sol Clark at the hilly Lyme Park 5K parkrun, first home overall with a time of 18.44, a smidgeon ahead of Buxton Junior Stuart Diamond who was second in 18.55, not forgetting first female home, another talented Buxton Junior, Heather Wilshaw who was 20^th overall in a time of 23.52, from a field of 158 runners.

Ben Light’s light seems to be shining ever brighter, and with a 1^st placing in the Mow Cop 10K fell race in a fantastic time of 45.17, it was his first ever win on the fells. Jake Fearn, last year’s winner, performed admirably to finish in 48.25 (8^th), and Pete Bailey’s 54^th placing in 63.53 gave the lads the third men’s team placing. Some 84 runners took part in this tough 400 metre ascent event, taking in the climb all the way up to the iconic Mow Cop folly.

A 30 mile ultra covering Gun Hill, the Roaches and the fearsome Shutlingsloe gave Nick Jones a chance to show his mettle, and he didn’t disappoint. A cracking time of 5 hours and 22 minutes gave him a clear overall win at this tough event. Richard Bouglas was next Buxton man home in 5.51, while Emma Wentworth was first Club female back in 6.58, followed by Sue Jeff, in her first ever ultra event, in 10.07.

The Chicken Run fell race, held out of Hayfield, covers 5.8 miles and over a thousand feet of climbing with some challenging ascents and speedy descents. The race was won by the very talented Steve Vernon of Stockport Harriers in a time of 36.17 so Junior Sam Soles’ time of 38.24 in an outstanding second place demonstrates the talent of the Buxton runner. Two other Juniors were very well placed – Jacob Winfield was 4^th in 40.30 and Jacob Miller 8^th in 43.15. Another outstanding result was Samantha Willis’s First Female Vet 40 placing, 5^th lady home, 52^nd overall in a time of 51.55. Pete Bailey finished in 70^th position, in 54.12.

On the roads, and down at the Derby 10K, two of the five Buxton AC runners who represented their Club were enormously proud to return with personal best times for the distance. Louise Morten and Anne Hallows finished in 48.39 and 59.17 respectively. Ian Hallows completed the race in 48.23, Gemma Davies in 53.23 and Kathryn Dobson in 54.53. Over 4,000 runners took part in the popular event.

Prolific racer Tracy Gregory conquered the Manchester Marathon last Sunday, managing to knock almost 45 minutes from her previous time at the event, finishing in 4.47.04.

The hugely popular Pavilion Gardens 5K is taking place at 9am on Saturday 13 April, starting on Broad Walk. Open to all abilities (children under 10 to be accompanied by an adult), this is a free event and there will be a cake stall in aid of Mind and The Thomas Theyer Foundation.