IT HAS been a busy season for local cross country athlete and former Herefordshire Champion, Vanessa Brann, who has now become a Gloucestershire Champion.

Former John Kyrle High School pupil Vanessa, who now attends Hartpury College, is the Gloucestershire Junior Women's Cross Country champion. She won the Herefordshire Championships on five occasions.

Last year she competed in the McCain Cross Country Challenge in Cardiff and was placed 19th out of a very strong field. The following weekend she competed in a five mile road race. In a field of about 100 she was placed second junior woman and was in the top ten in the senior women's race. She also produced a new personal best of 34 minutes and two seconds.

In October Vanessa competed in her very first half marathon in Cardiff. Despite being ill with a chest and throat infection, she managed to complete the half marathon in one hour 40 minutes. Vanessa was the first U20 home and 209th woman in a field of over 50,000 runners.

In early December, days before all the snow, Vanessa started her cross country season in the Gloucestershire cross country league, placing a lot higher than she expected coming 17th overall and first U20 out of a field of about 100.

She was very disappointed to miss the National Championships due to illness but after only one weeks training on March 5th, 2011 she took part in the UK Championships including the World Cross Country Trials – U20 Women and came 64th out of 130.

Vanessa has now made a very good start in the new Track Season and, at the Stroud & Yate Open Graded Meeting on Sunday, April 3rd, her first race of the season, she won the 3000 metres knocking five seconds off her time to give her a new PB time of 11.03 mins.

Vanessa is very grateful to everyone at Terry's Digital for their help and sponsorship.