Biggleswade s intrepid runners were at the Beds County Cross-Country Championships. They were at RAF Halton and held in conjunction with the Bucks county championships, with Bucks AAA acting as hosts. The course was undulating parkland, which became incre

Biggleswade's intrepid runners were at the Beds County Cross-Country Championships.

They were at RAF Halton and held in conjunction with the Bucks county championships, with Bucks AAA acting as hosts.

The course was undulating parkland, which became increasingly slippery as the afternoon rain persisted.

But this did not deter the nine Biggleswade AC runners who made the trip to south Bucks.

For several runners, this was their first race after recovering from various bugs caught over the festive period, but this did not prevent some superb performances.

Plaudits for the day go to Fiona Hunter and Natalie Darlow who finished the race shoulder to shoulder in fifth and sixth places.

These brilliant runs could well lead to selection for the Beds AAA county ladies' team in the forthcoming UK Inter-Counties race. This would be another feather in the cap for Biggleswade AC's excellent ladies' section.

Tom Stead ran a solid race to finish in seventh place in the under-13 boys' race against some stiff opposition.

In the men's race, Rob Morgan led the team home in 33rd place, with the ever improving Derek Litchfield not far behind in 43rd position. The Biggleswade AC cross-country captain Neil Gregory was next to finish, followed by a below-par Ken Prior who spent the race looking over his shoulder, determined that Nigel Bush would not catch him. To his credit, Ken battled on to the end and achieved his wish.

In the Vet 60 race, held over 6k, pre-race favourite Roger Wadeley had to sadly pull out shortly after the start with a recurrence of a hamstring injury.

Senior men and veteran men (12k): 33 Rob Morgan 52:45, 43 Derek Litchfield 54:16, 46 Neil Gregory 55:07, 55 Ken Prior 56:58, 58 Nigel Bush 57:49.

Senior ladies (6k): 5 Fiona Hunter 29:30, 6 Natalie Darlow 29:31.

U13 boys (3k): 7 Tom Stead 12:43.