Sophie succeeds in Armagh

Following a gutsy run at the British Cross Challenge in Liverpool, an impressive sixth place at the Southern XC championships in Brighton and an unprecedented win streak in the Surrey XC league, Sophie Harris was sure to attract the eye of any selector worth his salt. And sure enough, she took her first strides as an international athlete at the prestigious 3k race in Armagh.

A stellar field including the likes of Olympian Laura Weightman, Jess Judd and New Balance
athlete Lauren Howarth promised a fast and furious few laps around the Mall and Sophie stepped onto the plane with mixed feelings...

While defending champion Weightman jumped on the shoulder of Judd, who had clearly planned to maintain her reputation as one of the country's boldest challengers, Sophie found herself in a thick pack which held its shape throughout most of the race. The first two km managed to slightly tear the front of it - just enough to spot Sophie's poker face on the live stream - but it wasn't until the last half mile that there appeared a clear division among the chasers.

The clock was on the verge of showing 09:00 when Weightman crossed the line just over three seconds ahead of Judd. With the championship title successfully defended, all eyes turned to the incoming pack of grimacing faces. Ours in search of Sophie's.

And there she was, a fraction of a second behind team GB's Alex Bell - but in what position?! And in what time?! Assistant coach Matt Welsh confessed he "almost threw his laptop out the window."
It's his cool head that makes him such an asset to the team.

It wasn't long before the official results were posted online and the extent of Sophie's
accomplishment became clear. She managed to close the top 15 in a phenomenal time of 09:30.
That sort of run must leave a pretty irreplaceable buzz in its wake. Let's hope she likes the feel of it!

Burn up in Hyde Park

Clearly raring to test themselves after a good winter season (and Sophie's performance), men's
captain Ed Auden and Matt Welsh took to Hyde Park for Serpentine's Last Friday of the Month
lunchtime 5km race.

They found a handful of local speedsters including Andy Greenleaf and Chris Oddy at the startline
and quickly realised they would have company at the front end. Turns out the Bels had mainly each
other to contend with in the final stretch of the race where Matt found just enough juice to outkick
the skipper by a fraction of a second. Fifth and sixth place with identical official times of 15:39 is not a bad
way to start the weekend, and the lads can be pleased with a solid time this early in the road season.

Burgess Parkrun

The first proper spring morning of the year drew a small contingent of Bels and Belles to Burgess for a cheeky 5km to kickstart their weekend training.

Nick Buckle was feeling antisocial and pinned another solo course PB onto his racing season. He stopped the watch in an impressive 15:41, about half a minute ahead of the next runner. Let'shope he's in a similar sort of mood for the national XC champs next weekend...

Next to cross the funnel was Alex Mills whose marathon training translated into a 17:20 clocking and a tasty 5th place finish. This is sure to be a motivation top-up for Alex as he faces another few weeks of long runs – the speed will be there waiting for you in summer!

As for the ladies, the fastest woman of the day took the shape of Jess Reed. Not quite satisfied with just a course PB of 19:17, she decided to take a Clapham Chaser scalp home with her while she was at it. That's just efficient.

Lizzie Goldie-Scot was only a stone's throw behind her. She snuck under the 20min mark and took the fourth female spot ; another big step on her way to recovery from injury. With track season just around the corner, I think it's fair to say she's in for another sizzler!

Absent from the party were Arne Dumez and Andy Fyfe who had to call in sick and settle for a snotty, sniffly jog instead. No way they were going to miss that glorious weather, but running fast is much easier when you can breathe so...

Goolab on the Go

High-roller Nick Goolab continues to do the claret and gold proud as he takes on indoor tracks all over the continent.

After the Great Edinburgh XC, where he finished second after Andy Vernon, Nick ran an
impressive 7:55 3000m at the EIS in Sheffield to win a BMC meet against the likes of Andy Heyes, Tom Lancashire and Adam Clarke. It was only four days later that he travelled to Gent, Belgium to clock a 7:54 in the A race and once again best Clarke.

Anyone who cared enough could watch him on the BBC as he took on the best in the country for a stab at the national indoors 3000m title in Birmingham this Sunday afternoon. This time, Heyes timed his run perfectly and got away with the win, dragging himself and six other athletes to PB performances. That's quite alright, we're hopeful this will have lit his fire for the Southern road relays in a few weeks.