After a damp drizzly night, the Ampthill Trophy course was perfect for some cross country running. Vale entered a team of 8 athletes on Sunday, all in the U11 category and for most their first try at Cross Country Racing. The race, which offers some outstanding views in Ampthill Park, started back in 1974, and has a strong pedigree of junior competitors with Mo Farah and Paula Radcliffe both winning the junior race in U15 categories.
Kitty Shepherd-Cross was the first Vale athlete home in 14th place overall and 3rd girl in her age group out of 68 junior athletes competing in the U11/U13 age category. Kitty was closely followed by Timothy Fryer, Iona Royce and Ethan Perry who all sprinted against each other to finish. Completing the team were Lindsay Barber, Freya Smith, James Redding and Lloyd Pinnock who despite recovering from an infection still competed on the day.