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THERE were plenty of happy bunnies when Radcliffe Athletic Club members took on traditional Easter weekend challenges.

Speedy times were the order of the day for the five members among the 500-strong field at the popular Salford 10k on Good Friday.

Rob Shiels ran 39:37 on the flat and fast two-lap course followed by Mike Kontowtt (42:25), Alison Howarth (52:45), Tracy Wroe (1:00:11) and Helen Kay (1:01:06). Participants received a traditional commemorative coaster.

It was a double header for Howarth who was also in action at the short but hard Rivington Pike Fell Race on Easter Saturday.

A total of 241 runners completed the lung-busting 1.6-mile climb from Horwich to Rivington Pike. They didn’t have time to catch their breath before hurtling back down to the start/finish line.

Marc Taylor was Radcliffe’s first finisher and 66th overall in 24:32. Karen Doherty ran 32:23, closely followed by Howarth in 32:44.

Club chairwoman Donna Cartwright was also racing on the fells, taking on the longer distance of seven miles at the Wardle Skyline on Easter Saturday. The popular course with 1,250ft of climbing takes in several hills above Littleborough and Cartwright was the ninth woman in 1:10:00.

Lots of Radcliffe runners were at the popular Saturday morning 5k parkruns, with the biggest contingent from the club at Bolton.

Mark Williams was 27^th in 24:24 and Ethan Malone bagged a course pb of 26:28, clocking the same time as Paul Benson. Also running were, Caroline Malone (34:05) and Andy Wheeler (38:48) who knocked nearly two and a half minutes off his time from the previous week.

After his great time at Salford 10k, Rob Shiels was 16th at Heaton Park in 19:45, followed by Mark Taylor in 21:52. Elaine Bailey was first WV60 in a new course pb of 26:50 while Charles Whalley clocked 46:46.

Helen Kay and Tracy Wroe also doubled up on their Salford 10k performances, with Kay clocking 30:13 at Philips Park, which means she has set a course pb on each of her four runs there. Tracy Wroe ran 32:19 at Worsley Woods where she was joined by Sarah Rushton (34:05) and Natalie Hitchen (34:06).

 Results from elsewhere: Fell Foot – Amanda Callan (24:43); Isabel Trail – Peter Hunter (21:23) and Stephen Crowe (27:25); Keswick – Sheila Jones (first WV65 in 25:48); Knowsley – Bev Quinton (41.02); Northallerton – Katherine Biddle (27:13).