CUDDINGTON based Cheshire Dragons had success in two county cross country championships and at the Garstang 10km.

The weekend started off with a fantastic win for Amie Smith in the North Wales Cross Country Championships in which she took the senior women’s title for the second time.

The race came down to the last 100m and Smith just managed to sprint away from her competitor Tracy Rogers from Buckley, winning in 23mins 31secs.

At the Garstang 10k, Danny Lightfoot finished in an excellent third place and despite the cold and wet conditions as well as suffering from a cold managed 35mins 50secs.

Cheshire Dragon’s women’s team set out to beat local rivals Vale Royal in the Cheshire Cross Country Championships at Knight's Grange in Winsford, having finished second to them on debut in 2022.

After winning the Northern 10km team title the women were confident.

Dragons' club captain Hannah Cowley led the chase of runaway winner Harriet Knowles Jones and it was only for losing her shoe in the last mile that she was prevented from finishing in second place.

In the end she was passed by clubmates Jo Marsden, who eventually finished second senior woman and first over 40; and Carol Parsons,third senior woman and first W45.

With Helen Harrington backing up in 14th place Cheshire Dragons comfortably reversed last year’s positions.

Not only did the female Dragons win the senior title but Marsden, Parsons and Harrington also combined to win the masters women title.

For good measure Sara Avery also won the W55 category.

On a tough course that good muddier with every race, the Dragons men were not going to let the women have it all their own way and Mark Bebbington, in his first ever cross country race, led the masters team to silver medals with Mark Ward, who had the most spectacular finish of the day as he dived full length across the muddy finish line, and Mike Harrington, who’s company Run Cheshire had sponsored the race.

As a result of their runs a number of athletes have now been selected to run for Cheshire in the CAU Inter Counties Cross Country Championships at Loughborough in March.