Belles pipped to the podium at South of England cross country relays

The Belles produced another strong performance in the South of England 3-Stage Cross Country Relay, fielding three teams in what has become one of their favourite events of the season.

The 3km course, which is fairly flat, appeals to track athletes as well as cross country specialists. They didn't quite manage a medal this year, finishing 4th, 10th and 16th out of 47 complete teams, which served as another reminder of this team’s strength in depth.

Belgrave ‘A’: Naomi Lenane, Jess Saunders, Orna McGinley

Over recent years, the Belles have had a fine record in this event, but with a very strong Aldershot team amongst others competing for the first time in many years, the competition was perhaps stiffer than usual. Sunshine and a light breeze dried the grassy course after the overnight heavy rain, producing ideal conditions.

On the first leg, Naomi Lenane managed to shake off her cold and produced a very strong leg finishing in 5th place behind Highgate, Thames Valley, Aldershot and Herne Hill. Beth Brown led off for the 'B' team running just fifteen seconds slower than Naomi in her best race since recovering from injury last season. Fiona Maddocks ran her usual sensibly paced race for the 'C' team, arriving just in time after train disruption made for a difficult journey.

Belgrave ‘B’: Olivia Papaioannou, Sarah Riceman, Beth Brown

Jess Saunders has recovered remarkably quickly after her marathon just three weeks before and maintained the Belles’ position behind Herne Hill with an excellent run, close to eleven minutes. Olivia Papaioannou is still struggling to reach peak fitness after a dreadful accident in the early summer, but ran a very steady leg for the 'B' team. Sarah Dewhirst had turned her ankle over a few weeks previously so sensibly ran a little cautiously, but nevertheless managed to keep the 'C' team well within the top twenty.

On the final leg, Orna McGinley quickly overtook Highgate and moved the Belles 'A' team into fourth place, giving everything in trying to catch the Herne Hill runner ahead. Unfortunately, the gap proved to be too great, although Orna ran herself to exhaustion making the effort.

Belgrave ‘C’: Fiona Maddocks, Sarah Dewhirst, Lydia Gallyer-Barnett

Sarah Riceman is more comfortable racing longer distances but is proving to be a very useful member of this squad with a strong run here and also in the league race the week before. Lydia Gallyer-Barnett missed much of last year through injury but has returned to training very strongly and also ran a very good time bringing her team home in 16th place.