Becky Gough
BECKY Gough pulled off one of her best runs of the season with third place at the English National Championships in Sunderland.
The 16-year-old from Stubbington, who is trained by the club's very own Penny Forse, said she was "absolutely delighted" with the bronze in the under-17 race.
"I was on a high because I didn't think I would do so well," she said. "I was hoping for top five if I could."
It could have been second place for Becky, who was well placed for the silver, but was misdirected to the wrong finishing funnel by an official, which caused her to check her stride and in doing so was passed in the final few strides by Heather Timmins from Warrington who stole ahead with a second to spare.
Becky said she wasn't bothered about this, but pleased to have run so well. "It was really windy, and there was quite a bit of wind coming into out faces. I didn't start off too strongly, I set out quite steady to begin with and then worked my through because I felt the last part of the course was the hardest."
The under-17s race was run alongside the women's under-20 race, hence the confusion at the end. Aldershot Farnham & District's Charlotte Purdue won the under-17s event in 17min 8sec and she now flies out to Kenya for the World Cross Country Championships in Mombasa.
Heather Timmins clocked 17:48 and Becky recorded a time of 17:49. "This was my best performance of the season," said Becky, who was representing Team Southampton in Sunderland. This comes on the back of a fourth place at the Inter-Counties in Nottingham, third at the Southern Counties, and she won the southern inter-counties in Bexhill a few weeks ago.
Next up are the English Schools' Championships in Leeds on March 24. "Everything has really come together since December," she added. "I've been working hard with Penny, who has adjusted my training to include more tempo runs and that seems to work. I'm now running about 35 miles a week."