Nene Valley Harriers ace Cat Foley-Wray lapped up the plaudits after a fantastic run in The South of England Cross Country Championship at Parliament Hill Fields.
The 29-year-old took on many of the best cross country runners that the southern counties have to offer and finished in an excellent ninth position, even leading the field in the early stages as she raced up the iconic hill taking the runners onto Hampstead Heath.
Ploughing her way through some of the muddiest conditions ever seen on the course, Foley-Wray completed the 8km distance in an impressive time of 31.43mins.
The two other Nene Valley ladies who made the journey to North London also ran well, with Grace Mullins finishing in an excellent 38th position.
She capitalised on the fine form that saw her take the silver medal in the Lincolnshire Cross Country Championship earlier this year, behind gold medallist Foley-Wray.
Nicky Morgan crossed the line just outside the top 100 in a 500-strong field.
Morgan has already won the North Midlands Cross Country Veterans’ title this season, but this was perhaps her finest run of the winter as she was racing athletes of all ages from 20 upwards.
Meanwhile, Alex Hampson finished 28th in the under-20 race, in what is his first of three years completing in the age group. Jevan Robertson and Bradley Spurden also ran well, taking 48th and 56th positions.
Other Harrier highlights were Samuel Oakley’s 96th place in the boys’ under-13 age-group, while Megan Ellison’s was 73rd in the girls’ under-17 race, seven positions ahead of Olivia Ozkan. Ollie
Bowling was the 71st under-17 boy, while Josephine Fortune and Amber Park finished 54th and 69th respectively in the under-15 category.
The senior men fought valiantly, with Mike Chapman the first Nene Valley athlete home in 355th position. James McDonald, Lee Harthill and Ollie Slater were the three other Harriers to make it into the top 500, along with Werrington Jogger Jeff Lucas.
- Yvonne Scarrott enjoyed a fine start to her 2016 racing season, as she took the FV45 prize at the Freethorpe 10 mile road race in Norfolk on Sunday.
The 49-year-old Nene Valley Harrier finished as fourth lady overall in a time of 68.43mins, her quickest outing over the distance for six years.
