LAUREN Booth showed real grit and determination to claim her first ever senior victory in the gruelling Coniston 10k Trail Race.

The 18-year-old Bury Athletic Club runner led home the 372-strong field in 56mins 35secs despite taking a splash after misjudging one of the many flooded ditches on the hilly course.

She fell head first into the muddy pool but got up to win by 19 seconds, ahead of Keswick AC's Louise Winter in second place.

"Winning the race felt great because it was such a tough one and I'm not the strongest when it comes to hills," said Booth, who works as a life guard and gym instructor at Bury Council-run leisure centres.

"I struggled in the first half of the race because it was all a climb up the Coniston Old Man, but I enjoyed chasing people down and picking people off.

"I'm dedicated to my training so it's nice to finally come first and get some reward for all the hard work."

Booth's achievement was all the more impressive as it was only her second ever trail race, after finishing fourth in Hawkshaw in April.

Jenny Yates maintained Bury's winning streak at the Coniston event, coming home first vet-50 in the 15k race in a time of 1:29:09.

Donna Cartwright and Dave Cullen competed in the Mid Lancs Cross Country League in Chorley.

Cartwright made a promising return from injury taking 20th place overall in the women's race and third in the V35 category.

In the men's race, Cullen produced his customary strong run to finish 25th.

Byron Edwards recorded a time of 3:05:47 in the Chester Marathon.

The Bury men's team captain was using the race as part of his preparation for the Comrades Marathon in South Africa and has been called up to represent England in the vet-40 age category.

A number of Bury athletes made their final preparations for the cross country season by running in the Heaton Park parkrun.

Oliver Makinson, aged 15, showed the field a clean pair of heels, finishing over a minute ahead of the second-placed runner in a new personal best time of 17:15.

Sophie Whittaker was the first woman finisher, recording a time of 19:48, before going on to complete a hill session in the park.

Top 20 finishers included Giles Bennett (10th in 18:45) and Matt Grice (16th in 19:12).

Next weekend sees the first in the series of four Red Rose Cross Country League fixtures. The races will be held at the flat course around the Leigh Sports Village with Bury AC seeking to build upon their record-breaking performances last year.