The bustling Japanese seaport city of Fukuoka with its museums, shrines and temple, must have seemed a million miles away for Angus McLean who stormed to victory at the B&Q Eastleigh 10km on Sunday.

The 25-year-old Team Southampton athlete will be Japan-bound in less than two weeks' time, representing Britain at the World Cross Country Championships - this on the back of a third place over at the UK trials in Nottingham the previous weekend. Now McLean, a doctor based at the Royal Hampshire Hospital in Winchester, flies out to Japan in good heart after a comfortable victory at Eastleigh, clocking 29min 47sec for the distance.

"I'm pleased with that," he said afterwards. "It was quite windy out there, and conditions were a little difficult, but I was quite confident going into the race after my performance in Nottingham."

McLean headed a field of more than 1,000 runners for the race, which incorporated both the UK Inter-Counties Championship, and race seven of the Hampshire Road Race League.

He started out strongly and was joined up front by Kent AC's Jermaine Mays. Then at 7km, going into a headwind, the Hampshire athlete pushed on and finished 13 seconds ahead of his rival.

McLean works in the respiratory medicine department at the Royal Hampshire. He admitted that lately the pressures of work meant finding time to train was proving tough, but nonetheless he was hoping for a top-50 finish in Japan.

After that, he will begin preparing for the track season where he is hoping to put himself in contention for a place on the British team over 1,500m at this summer's European Championships in Gothenburg.

Winchester & District AC's Lucy Elliott admitted she was pleasantly surprised to win the women's race. The 40-year-old research scientist, who is based at Chilworth, has been struggling with fitness and ill-health since winning the Southern Cross Country Championships in Devon earlier this year.

"I was ill after the Southerns and took two weeks off," she revealed. "Things have not been right and I have been struggling. I've been doing different exercises, and wasn't sure how I would do at Eastleigh."

Even so, Elliott said she was pleased with the time of 33min 36sec, which earned her 50th place overall.

Full list of all runners in tonight's Daily Echo - missed your copy? Call our subscriptions dept on 023 8042 4722