SIMON Nott was delighted to put his injury woes behind him by regaining the county title at last Sunday’s Corsham St Georges 10k.

The 21-year-old, who captains Calne Running Club alongside Denise Grech, crossed the line first in 32:52 to regain the Wiltshire 10k crown he won in 2013 in Castle Combe and bring an injury-hit period of almost a year to an end in style.

Nott, who lives in Calne, has been plagued by a muscle injury and says finally refusing to ignore the problem was the key to his return to form.

“I raced in May last year and after that, I started to notice a bit of pain in my knee,” said Nott.

“It was being caused by tension in my quad but I just tried to ignore it and carry on. I did a few races through to September-time but it was hurting too much and I had to have it looked with a bit of physio and sports massage.

“I had to take proper time to stretch the muscle out to stop if putting stress on my knee and Sunday was my first proper race back.

“I was really happy to win and happy with my time but it’s funny because, with the way I’d been running in training, I felt I could have gone faster.”

Sunday’s race was number three in this season’s Wiltshire Road Race League.

Nott added: “Calne Running Club has about 40 runners and we were up against Avon Valley Runners and Chippenham Harriers, who have about 100 apiece. We came in third behind them, which is great.”

Westbury’s Fiona Price (Avon Valley Runners) defended her women’s county championship title with 39:26, with Stanton St Quintin-based Natalie Plummer crossing the line first in 38:22.

Avon Valley s took top marks in the Newsquest-sponsored league and now sit three points clear of Chippenham Harriers.

In the Second Division, it was hosts Corsham Running Club that took the points, with the top two positions in the table now occupied by the club’s A and B teams.

The next race league race is the Trowbridge 5K, on Sunday, May 10.

LEAGUE STANDINGS

1 Avon Valley Runners A, 60; 2 Chippenham Harriers A, 57; 3 Avon Valley Runners B, 53; 4 Chippenham Harriers B, 45; 5 Calne Running Club A, 45; 6 Calne SMaRTT A, 43; 7 Team Bath AC A, 39; 8 Devizes Running Club A, 39; 9 Swindon Harriers A, 38; 10 Slinn Allstars A, 37; 11 Frome Running Club A, 27; 12 Devizes Running Club B, 21.

Division 2: 1 Corsham Running Club A, 59; 2 Corsham Running Club B, 35; 3 Highworth Running Club A, 33; 4 Salisbury A&RC A, 32; 5 Calne Running Club B, 32; 6 Royal Wootton Bassett Hounds A, 30; 7 Swindon Striders A, 20; 8 Westbury Running Group A, 19; 9 Swindon Striders B, 18; 10 Calne SMaRTT B, 17; 11 Slinn Allstars B, 16; 12 Frome Running Club B, 16.

Men: 1 Michael Towler (Avon Valley Runners, Senior) 298; 2 Pete Slade (Avon Valley Runners, Senior) 290; 3 Robin-Mark Schols (Avon Valley Runners, Vet 50) 270; 4 Michael Bright (Chippenham Harriers, Senior) 248; 5 Simon Morgan (Avon Valley Runners, Vet 40) 244; 6 Andrew Maggs (Avon Valley Runners, Senior) 243; 7 Jon Pittard (Avon Valley Runners, Senior) 225; 8 Jamie Moss (Calne Smartt, Senior) 209; 9 Scott Barnett (Avon Valley Runners, Senior) 205; 10 Rich Ayling (Avon Valley Runners, Senior) 196.

Ladies: 1 Fiona Price (Avon Valley Runners, Vet 40) 297; 2 Fiona Gibbs (Avon Valley Runners, Vet 40) 260; 3 Rohaise Des Voeux (Chippenham Harriers, Vet 40) 258; 4 Tina Towler (Avon Valley Runners, Vet 50) 240; 5 Adele Cooper (Avon Valley Runners, Vet 50) 212; 6 Helen Donald (Avon Valley Runners, Senior) 206; 7 Amanda-Jayne Bygrave (Avon Valley Runners, Vet 40) 204; 8 Ruth Barnes (Avon Valley Runners, Senior) 200; 9 Caroline Blake (Chippenham Harriers, Vet 40) 193; 10 Lucy Morrison (Calne Running Club, Junior) 189.

Full league standings at wiltshire-athletics.org.uk; Report & more pictures in this week's Gazette & herald and Wiltshire Times