With the National Cross Country championships AND the British Indoor champs both scheduled for the same weekend, there were some tricky decisions to be made for some, but those Team Blizard athletes who committed to either the mud or the track put their all into performing astonishingly well.

The star of the show at the National cross country was sponsored athlete and student, Hallamshire’s 20-year-old Bertie Houghton, who finished well up the field of more than 1700 athletes to score a fantastic 34th position, covering the 12.5km distance at Donnington Park in an incredible 44:54!

Bertie receives free physiotherapy at Blizard because we want to support him in his commitment to becoming the best athlete he can be, be that on the country or over the barriers in the steeplechase, and he’s certainly doing very well so far!



Our other sponsored athlete, Sheffield’s Kristie Edwards, still just 18 years old, was in action yet again at the National Indoors, reaching the final of the best in the whole of Britain in the 200m and finished in 24.42 in her home stadium. On paper her PB of 23:98 ranked her second in the final, so we expect great things from our Kristie once she takes to the track outdoors this season!



Also in action at the National cross country were Sheffield’s Sarah Lowery, aiming to beat her marathon PB of 2:54.57 in London this year, and Nene Valley Harrier’s Ruth Jones, aiming to beat as many horses as she can at the Welsh endurance challenge, Man vs Horse in June.



Sarah finished a strong 162nd in 36:58 with Ruth never far behind in 176th position, 29 seconds adrift, while in the men’s race, Clowne’s Gareth Lowe and Peter Twigg both braved the boggy, hilly terrain for an extra lap of the Leicestershire course, with Gareth finishing well inside the top 200 in a monster field of 1730 finishers in 48:30, while Peter did well to defeat more than half the field to finish in 56:27 and 707th position.



Jono Frary’s Ironman in training, super mum triathlete Karen Lynch, perhaps inspired by those thrashing themselves in the mud at the Nationals the day before, smashed her half marathon PB on a tough trail course at the Harewood Half, finishing in a superb 1:44!



Karen has been improving in every single discipline since having lactate tests on the bike and treadmill at the clinic, as well as a swim analysis with Coach Frary, and was over the moon with her performance off road.

She said: “I stuck to my plan and took 5 minutes off my time, absolutely buzzing, I can't thank my coach enough! Thanks Jono!”

Also competing over the 13.1m distance were BRJ’s Roger Holliday and Road Runner’s Matt Russell, who clocked identical times of 1:36 in half marathons at Cambridge and Oulton Park respectively. Both these chaps are as determined and focussed on improving as they come, and are a credit to the Team Blizard crew!



Askern’s Kelly Raven was also in the mood for taking her running off the impact-heavy road surface and had lots of fun at the Barnsley Harriers anniversary relay race - we love it when our athletes enjoy themselves in competition!

Kelly said: “That was a fun race! It was 5.3 miles of trail, hilly ploughed fields, stiles, bit of road and stoney paths, I was on the third leg and over took everyone in sight, about eight teams! I really enjoyed it, and because it was mixed terrain I wore my fab winter On Running shoes!”



Great to hear Kelly, summing up the Team Blizard spirit of taking on the adventure of racing, enjoying every step, but still overtaking everyone in sight!