By Owen Morgan

James Hunt and Melanie Wilkins overcame strong fields and even stronger winds to claim the senior Welsh Cross Country Championship titles at Pembrey Country Park on Saturday.

Hundreds of athletes from primary school age to over 70s travelled from all over the country to brave the elements on the exposed coastal course.

Despite the rain which had lashed most of the country over the past two weeks, the combination of the drying coastal winds and layer of sand beneath the grass course, meant that conditions were surprisingly good under foot.

Hunt took advantage to produce a dominant performance to claim his second senior men’s title in three years ahead of Cardiff club mates Ciaran Lewis and Dan Nash.
Seven-time champion Dewi Griffiths, of Swansea Harriers, who is on his way back to fitness after missing most of last season, finished fourth.

It was Hunt, Lewis and Griffiths, who made the early running on the 10,350 course, distancing themselves from the rest of the field.

The 2018 champion then made his move to open up a decisive gap over Lewis and Griffiths and never looked back, breaking the tape in 31.58, a full 24 seconds ahead of Lewis in second and Nash who came through to take the bronze medal.

A delighted Hunt said: “I took it off quite hard and I was starting to think that I’d gone off too fast but my strength came through in the end and I’m really happy with that. The wind on the straights was horrendous, but it played into my hands really.

“It’s nice to take the title back off Dewi again, I’m thrilled. I know he’s not quite as fit as he usually is, but he’s brilliant and we’re really good friends so I’m glad it was me who took it off his hands this year.”

Hunt says that upping his mileage over the past couple of years is starting to pay off and he is now setting his sights on the track season ahead.

“I’m going to jump onto the track this year and try to get a few standards over 5 and 10k, see how fast I can go and then try to get the qualifying times for the Commonwealth Games.

“I was doing around 40 to 50 miles a week and now I’m up to 70 to 80, I feel like I’m going from strength to strength over the last couple of years. It’s brilliant, I’m really happy.”

The Cardiff Athletics’ clean sweep of the individual medals meant the capital city club comfortably won the team title ahead of Swansea Harriers in second and Pontypridd Roadents in third.

There was an equally impressive performance in the women’s senior race where Wilkins, of Wycombe Phoenix Harriers and AC, was triumphant.

Having finished second to Jenny Nesbitt last year, Wilkins was not to be denied this time around as she covered the 7,360m course in a winning time of 26.45.

The champion was followed home by Lauren Cooper, of Parc Bryn Bach Running Club in 26.45 and Rebecca Evans, of Cardiff Athletics in 28.03.

Wilkins said afterwards: “It was very dry and windy, I actually came with 15 mil spikes in, I didn’t expect it to be so dry, I expected a mudbath!

“The start was very, very windy and driving up the hills. It was also hard in the woods, because there is no-one there, you never really know what’s going on around you.

“But it’s a great event to do and great to come and compete in Wales. I was second last year so really pleased with today.

“I’m training for the London Marathon, so my mileage is pretty high at the moment, it’s very rare that I do such short distances when I’m in training for a marathon, but I’ve done the whole cross country season this year.

“Looking ahead, the dream would be to qualifying for the Commonwealth Games with Wales, but at the moment I’m trying not to put too much pressure on myself, enjoy training and stay injury free.”

The senior women’s club title was won by Cardiff Athletics with Lliswerry Runners second and Les Croupiers third.

There were some excellent performances throughout the age group races, where one of the closest finishes looked to be on the cards in the men’s under-20 race.
The early stages were a tactical battle with the leading runners appearing reluctant to make a move in the windy conditions.

Going into the closing stages, the leading pack had been whittled down to Swansea Harriers’ Dominic Smith and City of Sheffield and Dearne AC’s Samuel Roberts.

But it was the Swansea Harrier who produced the decisive kick and timed his finish to perfection to win in 24.06 and claim revenge over Roberts, who had finished ahead of him at the recent Armagh International road races.

Smith said: “It was nice an easy for the first few laps. But I knew he wasn’t going to have me like he did in Armagh, so I waited until the last 200 to kick past him, so it feels really good.

“He’s a really talented and it’s so nice to see that there is so much young Welsh talent coming through.

“Because it was so windy, no-one wanted to take it on, so I knew that if it was down to a tactical race and a tactical sprint finish, I could trust in my kick.

“That’s the end of my cross country season now, the next stop is the national road relays where I’ll be competing for Swansea Harriers so really looking forward to that.”

There was another decisive sprint finish in the men’s under-17 race where Menai Track and Field’s Osian Perrin, finally broke away from Cardiff’s Lloyd Sheppard in the final stages to take the title in 15.42 on the 5,150m course.

Perrin, who also won in Pembrey last year, said: “It was really hard because it was so windy, especially the start and the finish because you’re running into a headwind.

“I knew I had the faster finish, I knew that if I could just keep in there with 400 to go I was pretty sure I could win it.”

The win means Perrin will be amongst the Welsh team heading to compete at the London Mini Marathon in London in April.

“I’ll be doing the Podium 5k in two weeks and that will be a practice for the London Mini Marathon. I came fourth last year, so ‘aim high’ I say and hopefully I’ll get a podium place this year.”

It was an excellent day for Menai Track Field with Perrin’s clubmate Samia Jones producing a hugely impressive performance to win the women’s under-17/20 race.

Despite running as an under-17 athlete, Jones won the overall race ahead of fellow under-17 athlete Ashleigh Willis, of Swansea Harriers. Martha Owen, of Deeside AC was the first under-20 athlete home in third place overall.

Jones, who covered the 5,150m course in a time of 18.37 was delighted with the win, particularly after having fallen at last year’s event: “It was really tough with the wind, but personally the worst bit were the logs because I fell there and didn’t finish last year, so that was mentally the hardest bit. I was relieved to get past that.”

The youngster is also looking forward to competing at the London Mini Marathon. “I’m really excited. I love it there. I’ve done alright in the past, but you get more experienced the more you go, so I’m quite confident about this year.”

The full results from an excellent day’s competition across all the events are available on the Welsh Athletics website.