A SMALL team of Southampton AC athletes travelled to France for the 54th Cross d'Herouville Cross-Country.

First organised by Harvey and Jean Bowles more than 40 years ago, the event gave many Southampton athletes over the years the opportunity to race against teams from France, Belgium and Germany.

Sadly Harvey passed away in November 2016 and, as a remembrance to him, the former club colours were in attendance.

With the consistent rain and many races earlier in the day, conditions underfoot had become heavy going in the mud.

That didn't stop Nicci Blandford and Karen Rushton setting the scene for the Brits to finish on the podium with a fantastic second and third overall (1st and 2nd vet) respectively.

For the senior men the Costley brothers, Max and Sam, continue to impress. On this occasion it was the younger brother, Sam, running above his mere 17 years of age, who finished a fantastic fourth, missing a podium finish by a few seconds.

With Max finishing eighth and Robert Finch 20th, the senior trophy was heading to Britain for the first time in over 20 years.

The veteran athletes within the senior race also took the team title for the first time. James Smith led them to victory, finishing runner-up (13th overall) to Frenchman Angelo Bottereau.

Andy Morgan-Lee, 14th overall (3rd vet), and Steve Marcer, 31st (14th vet), sealed the win with a comfortable 19-point margin.

David Blackman 40th (19th vet), Peter Costley 47th (23rd vet) and John MacInnes 81st (48th vet) were the top B team, finishing sixth overall out of 12.