Triple 'crowns' for Vernon and Purdue in Birmingham
Purdue wins in Birmingham
It was a fitting end to what has been a memorable year on the country for Charlotte Purdue. Her win in Birmingham today ensured that the Aldershot athlete won the Inter Counties XC title, MCain Cross Challenge and World Cross trials race…
It was a similar story for fellow Aldershot runner Andy Vernon, as like Purdue he picked up all three titles on offer at Cofton Park. Both won their respective 12 and 8km races handsomely too, thus pretty much booking their tickets to the World XC in Punta Unbria on March 20.
Andy Vernon at Antrim, 2010
It’s pretty fair to say that these two have been the stand-out man and woman in British domestic cross country running this winter, with Purdue carrying all before her winning these three titles, plus the European and National XC titles at junior level. Add to this her storming effort in Edinburgh in January and you can see why she is being heralded as the great hope for female distance running over the next few years.
The coverage of today’s racing was pretty comprehensive. The races were beamed live on Sky, and UKA and athletics weekly (Jason Henderson) both gave us some great race ticker updates via Twitter.
Full report of all of the Intercounties action now over at the UKA site, with images and full results to follow…
