SIMON Nott is celebrating his fifth successive victory in the senior men’s race at the Wiltshire Cross Country Championships, writes KEVIN FAHEY.

Calne Running Club member Nott was once again in a class of his own in the county contest as he finished over two minutes ahead of Michael Beckett, from the City of Salisbury, and his win cemented his position as the county’s current top all-round distance athlete.

“It is nice to win it five times on the trot because before that I think I was a junior,” said Nott.

“Winning county titles is never easy, so I don’t take it for granted and I’ll keep trying to win as many as I can.”

In truth, there was never any doubt that Nott would retain his Wiltshire crown and the bigger story was whether he could secure a hat-trick of Tri-Counties titles by beating the Avon and Somerset runners who also took part.

But that dream was dashed by Bristol & West AC’s new signing Felix McGrath, whose skills as a former England junior runner stood him in good stead on the long, steady climbs that are a feature of the course at the University of Bath.

Nott added: “The priority is, first and foremost, always to win the Wiltshire title but it was clear early on that Felix and I were evenly matched.

“He was very strong on the up and down hills and I pushed as hard as I could to get back to him, and I can honestly say I couldn’t have done any more.

“I would say that is the fastest I have run around that course so that is a positive.”

At the other end of the age spectrum, the Maxwell twins from Chippenham raced to a superb one-two in the U13 boys’ race.

Harry ran away with overall title and the Wiltshire county title, while Josh got the verdict over Taunton’s Ryan Reed as both were awarded the same time.

With support from Alex Hearn in 14th, Team Bath just edged out Taunton in the team competition.

To complete a good day for the family, Sophie Maxwell won a Wiltshire bronze medal in the U11 girls’ age group.

Freya Buglass of Avon Valley Runners, who is a student at St Augustine’s in Trowbridge, was crowned Wiltshire champion in the U15 girls’ age group and Hilperton’s John Howorth struck gold in the U20 men’s race.

Two other AVR athletes finished among the medals with Owen Lythell runner-up in the U17 men’s race, while Gemma Knudsen won a bronze medal in the women’s race.