Last week saw the incredibly sad news of the passing of longtime Burnley AC member Mark Hanson.

His brave fight against cancer was typical of the man and mirrored the 110% effort he gave when he pulled on the Claret & Blue vest.

Mark was a stalwart of the club and an inspiration to many, both on and off the track. He was proud to represent our club and wore his Burnley AC vest not only in this country but around the world. He took on the role of ‘Burnley AC’s European Ambassador’ in 2017 after running a 5k while on holiday in Crete, a role he didn’t fail to mention at least once every training session!!

Mark was a very talented runner and still holds five masters records, a regular competitor at the Northern Masters League events, he was great fun on the car journeys with the rest of the ‘old guys’ to places like Leigh, Sports City and Cleckheaton.

He was able to hold his own at any distance from the 800m right up to the Marathon and even fancied himself as a sprinter in training, this got him the nickname ‘Hurricane Hanson’

His 5k in Crete was a superb PB of 17:11 and put Mark in the top 100 in the country for his age group, not bad for a middle distance athlete.

Cross Country has seen a resurgence at the club in the past couple of years but a lot of that has to go down to the continued participation in this discipline of Mark in the Burnley AC colours, he was a mainstay of the team and would turn out in all weathers even if it meant he was the only member of the club available.

People who knew Mark will remember him in their own way but his sense of humour would brighten up any day, he was great fun in training and also in competition but more than anything he was a real team player and always had the best interests of fellow athletes at the forefront of his mind.

The club would like to send our condolences to all of Mark’s family and the impression he left on the members will last a lifetime.

Sleep well Hurricane, we’ll miss you.