ST ALBANS Striders and St Albans Athletics club ran in the shadow of Windsor Castle on Saturday for the third fixture in the Chiltern Cross country league. After constant rain over the last few weeks the weather stayed dry but the conditions were tough wi

ST ALBANS Striders and St Albans Athletics club ran in the shadow of Windsor Castle on Saturday for the third fixture in the Chiltern Cross country league.

After constant rain over the last few weeks the weather stayed dry but the conditions were tough with the energy sapping mud making the going hard.

Arms and legs were all working like pistons to aid the athletes round the courses.

The Striders had two new runners to the league and, showing their experience in other cross country leagues, Ed Blake and Gill Jubb were second and seventh respectively in Division Two.

The Athletics club again had a great turnout with smiles all round maintaining their position at the top of the young athletes league.

The quartet of McMurray, Hilton, Poulain and Jamieson-West continue their domination in the U15 Division Two with all four in the top five.

Not to be outdone, the U11 boys look like they could be following in their footsteps with an excellent team second position in the mob match.

Well done to Ben Pattison, Adam Wilmshurst, Ricardo James and Adam Pritchard.

It was the girls who came up trumps with lots of runners taking part even though the weekend was packed with pre-Christmas children's activities. The teams chose mud and physical activity which is a tremendous credit to each of the young athletes.

Niamh Quinn, Pipppa Bailey and Laura Edwards all improved on previous races as their strength, determination and experience continues in the right direction.

In the U11 girls there were big improvements in performance by Emily Hack, Rhiannon Ellis and Jessica Edwards.