CIRENCESTER Athletics Club had its strongest performance for many years at last weekend’s Gloucestershire Cross Country Championships.

The club won two individual and a team gold medal in the junior races and narrowly missed out on a team gold in the senior men’s race.

The first victory came in the under 11 boys race when Henry Sheffield came home well clear of the opposition in 7m52s.

Next for the club were Tom Williams and Zac Humphries which was enough to secure a team gold medal.

Ollie Campbell showed his class in the under 15 boys race to win in 18m33s.

Full Cirencester results in the junior races were – Under 11 Girls - 7. Khaya Swaine 9m36s, 10. Caitlin Watson 9.38.

Under 11 boys – 1. Henry Sheffield 7.52, 12.Tom Williams 9.04, 15. Zac Humphries 9.08, 18. Sebastian Forrest 9.23.

Under 13 Boys – 17. Andrew Woods 14.41s Under 15 Boys – 1. Ollie Campbell 18.33, 11. Sam Cook 22.49.

The club’s younger runners had a major impact on the senior men’s race with Luke Campbell and Isaac McAdam finishing in the top 10.

A hilly Wootton-under-edge course provided a close battle between the favourites Cheltenham Harriers and Cirencester who had rarely featured in previous years.

But this time things were different with club champion Dave Dell leading the team to cross the finish line in second place closely followed by Luke and Isaac and club captain James Thomas.

Just outside the top ten was Adrian Williams, making a return to cross country running.

One more top twenty finisher would have won the team a gold medal but a silver was an excellent result.

The ladies race was also well supported by the club with Liz Thomas leading the team.

Full Cirencester results from the senior races were – Men – 2. Dave Bell 32m36s, 4.Luke Campbell 33.28, 5. Isaac McAdam 33.39, 9.James Thomas 34.15, 11. Adrian Williams 34.48, 79. Tim Ingham 45.42, 90. Dorian Matts 47.13.

Ladies – 30. Liz Thomas 33m14s, 36. Barbara Thomas 37.21, 38. Pam Wheeler 37.53, 41. Helen Manners 39.25, 42. Ruth Fulford 40.56.

The long distance Cirencester runners chose the Naunton 19 multi-terrain race for their weekend’s racing. On a cold but sunny morning just over a hundred runners enjoyed glorious North Cotswold scenery in this challenging race.

First home for the club was Richard Hurdle who finished 9th in 2h31m13s, followed by Jill Hadland 33rd in 2.48m30s and Liza Darroch and Rupert Chesmore who ran together in their last race before an extended holiday on the other side of the world.

The previous Sunday saw two of the club’s leading runners return to racing after long periods of injury and family commitments in the Gloucester New Year’s Eve 10 mile race.

Despite their absence from racing Bill Leggate and Chris Illman did well to finish in the top ten in under an hour, ably supported by three of the club’s ladies. Their results were – 7. Bill legate 58m46s, 8. Chris Illman 59.19, 87. Alexis Shea 1h16.46, 236.Rachel Barber 1.33.54, 261. Barbara Thomas 1.38.18.

As many of the club’s younger runners concentrated on the county cross country championships the weekly parkruns were contested by several of the senior members.

First finisher at Swindon was Martin Croucher who again broke the 20 minute barrier to finish 11th in 19m20s.

He was followed by David Moss 47th 21.53, 50. Gordon Jones 22.50, 90.Croline Cotterell 23.20, 130. Alan McAdam 24.31 and Sharon O’Keefe 29.29.

Best parkrun results came at Taunton where Ian Barrett scored a victory finishing ahead of 340 runners in 18m06sc and Slough where Jacob McAdam was fourth in 17m50s in a field of over 700.