Three Thetford Athletics Club athletes made the journey to Leicestershire to represent Norfolk in the UK Inter Counties Cross Country Championships.

The event is the most significant in the annual cross-country calendar and pits the best junior and senior athletes from each county from across the UK against one another with each county choosing their best eight athletes in each age group.

The event took place in the grounds of Prestwold Hall near Loughborough with the course plagued by mud, hills and tight turns — a traditional cross-country environment.

First of the Thetford athletes to represent Norfolk was Abigail Clouston in the U13 girls’ race. Clouston finished in 271st position out of the 304 finishers, coming home in a time of 15.44 and was the sixth Norfolk athlete to complete the course. Race winner was Bethany Cook from Team Bodyworks, based in East Sussex, running a time of 12.37.

Jessica Norkett took part in the U15 girls’ category and of the 295 athletes to complete the gruelling 4km course, Norkett finished in 100th position, almost making the top third of finishers. Norkett completed the course in a time of 17.22 and was the fifth Norfolk girl to cross the line. Olivia Mason from the Scottish club, Border AC, won the category in a time of 15.22.

Aiden Try was competing in the U17 Men’s race and finished in 175th place out of the 263 finishers, recording a time of 23.01 for the 6km course and was the fourth of the Norfolk athletes to complete the course. The U17 Men’s race was won by Zakariya Mahamed from Southampton AC in a time of 20.00.

Both Aiden Try and Jessica Norkett are set to represent the Norfolk School’s team in this weekend’s English Schools Cross Country Competition which is being held at the Norfolk Showground near Norwich.

Meanwhile, more than two thousand, hopeful young athletes from every corner of England will gather at the Norfolk Showground on Saturday for the English Schools Cross Country Championships, The championships will be the 57th for boys and the 49th for girls. The first championship event for under 17 girls starts at 12.30pm while the final event, the senior boys championships, is at 3.30pm.