TADLEY Runners welcomed 186 runners to their annual 5.2 mile Christmas Cross Country Race.

The club launched a brand new, completely off-road course for the 25th anniversary of the race, and all finishers were treated to a special T-shirt to commemorate this milestone.

The runners experienced a wide variety of terrain, which included woodland paths, water meadows, fields, hills, a stream and a very generous supply of mud.

Frederick Slemeck, of Hercules Wimbledon, set a very impressive initial course record of 31min 34sec.

He was followed home by Reading Roadrunners’ Ian Gosling (34:18) and Basingstoke and Mid Hants’ Nicholas Liu (35:21).

The men’s age-graded prizes went to Reading Roadrunners’ Richard Usher in the male 40 category (36:05), while Basingstoke’s Mark Bevan took the male 50 crown (38:21) and unattached runner Richard Shaw was the first male 60 runner in a time of 44:51.

The ladies’ race was won by Ellie Gosling of Reading Roadrunners in a brilliant time of 38:52, just 11 seconds ahead of Basingstoke’s Kate Robson, while Tri20 runner Katie Henderson was third in 40:28.

The ladies’ age-graded prizes went to Belinda Tull of Reading Roadrunners for the female 35 category (42:52), while unattached runners Anne Leggett and Sally Waterman won the female 45 (46:42) and 55 (52:08) races respectively.