An eight-hour round trip to North Wales for the British Masters Cross Country Championships saw Winchester Running Club athletes Lucy Elliott and Sam Parkinson return home with hard-earned gold and silver medals respectively.

Despite several off-road races being cancelled in recent weeks due to the very wet weather, there was no stopping Lord Newborough from hosting the championships on the Rhug Estate in Corwen.

Competitors were treated to a proper cross-country course of more than 6.5km of heavily rutted ground and hills and streams to navigate.

Notable features included a first-field rutted with tractor tyre treads, soggy conditions and a water jump.

Winchester Running Club member Lucy Elliott, currently the world record holder in her age group for 10k, started as one of the pre-race favourites and lived up to her billing by dominating the race from start to finish, bringing home V55 gold, beating out second place Kate Ramsey by over a minute in her age group.

Sam Parkinson, a silver medalist at the recent Hampshire cross country championships, ran to form and came home with another silver V50 missing out on gold by just 4 seconds.

Lucy told Athletics Weekly: “I couldn’t keep up with the leading group so ended up very much running on my own. It was my first cross-country race this season (because of club issues) and my first race in my new club colours of Winchester Running Club.

“Some of the runners were met by a huge herd of deer as they reached the far end of the course!”

Meanwhile, the weekend also saw round nine of the hotly contested Hampshire Road Race League take place in Salisbury over a tough and hilly 10-mile course.

The course took the runners north of the city, along the River Avon, and then back towards South Wilts Grammer School on the return leg.

The 19-strong team from Winchester Running Club continued to perform exceptionally well. It was all about the women’s team this time round, with a plethora of solo and team awards.

Tamsin Anderson and Erin Wilmers claimed second and third overall, whilst Anderson also topped her age category, as did Sarah Gurney, with Wilmers runner-up.

A further five team members claimed top 10 positions in their age groups across the men’s and women’s divisions. With strength in depth, the team won the ladies team prize by some margin, a fantastic achievement.

As a newly formed team, both men’s and women’s teams started this season in the third division, but with four races remaining, are already looking in a very strong position to gain promotion next season.

Winchester Running Club welcomes runners of all ages and abilities. More information about it can be found on the club's website winchesterrunningclub.org.uk/.