Not content with his recent membership of a select group of long-distance fell runners who have completed the 100km Bob Graham round, Horwich Harriers legend Marcus Taylor took up the challenge of the SILVA Northern Traverse - a non-stop 300km ultra marathon.

Taking in iconic mountains, valleys, moors and covering 6,500m of ascent and descent, the Northern Traverse is probably the most spectacular ultramarathon race anywhere in the UK.

The traverse is a Wainwright-designed coast-to-coast route starting in St Bees on the west coast, weaving across the country and taking in three National Parks before finishing in Robin Hood’s Bay on the east coast.

The mountains of the Lake District define the first section and provide half of the ascent where there was a change of course due to extremely high winds over Kidsty Pike.

In stark contrast, the route then heads into the remote paths off Nine Standards in the Yorkshire Dales, crossing the Vale of York and on to the high plateaus of the North York Moors.

The final section into Robin Hood’s Bay is along a spectacular coastal path and is a fitting finish to an incredible long-distance endurance event.

Taylor, after surviving on a mere three-and-a-half hours sleep over three days, navigated flooded paths due to heavy rain and a swelling on the leg resulting from a fall on the sandbanks.

He completed this arduous task in a remarkable running time of 90hrs 19mins 27secs at 2.49 in the morning, and is fast cementing himself a place in Horwich Harriers folklore.

Eslewhere last weekend, it was the Manchester Marathon - the second largest UK and fourth biggest European marathon event welcoming more than 30,000 runners on a flat, fast course around the city.

Several Harriers raced with Sam Walsh, fresh from his success at Wigan, and Joe Mercer posting good results with top-100 finishes. Mercer finished 61st in 2:38:23 and Walsh 95th in 2:41:29.

New dad Matt Wilson, not seeming to be affected from sleep deprivation, achieved his goal of a sub-three hours in 2:58:30, Hayley Winder finished in 3:38:36 and Chris Fielding (3:39:10) would have posted a quicker time had he not chosen to stop at mile 10 to sing with an on-course rock band. Jonathon Jenkins (4:22:50) completed the Horwich line-up.

Staying with the distance theme, fell-runner extraordinaire, Julian Goudge, took on the Manchester to Liverpool ultra.

Starting at Salford Quays and finishing in Aintree, the course covers 50 miles on what was a rain-soaked slippery route.

Unsure whether he would be able to complete it, running with a broken arm sustained in a fall at the Flower Scar Fell Race, Goudge came home in 7:28:00 - an overall 24th place and third Vet 50.

Over at Warrington, Harrison Stokes and Ben Topham both ran 1500m steeplechase personal-best times. Stokes ran 4:27- 10 seconds under the English School standard - and despite a recent injury preventing his training and a stumble at the first water jump, Topham finished in 4:54.

Overseas Horwich runner, Toby Middleton, who is studying in the United States, ran a 3:56:88 at the Warrensburg Memorial Mule Relays 1500m, setting a new school record and then the following day ran a 1:56:91 800m at the Siue Cougar classic - also a new school record and massive PBs for him.