ATHLETICS: Brilliant Ridley lifts crown bid (From Witney Gazette)

ATHLETICS: Brilliant Ridley lifts crown bid

9:56am Wednesday 8th February 2012 in Sport By Ed Mezzetti

Elysia Ridley strengthened her Oxford Mail Cross Country League title hopes with victory in round four at Cirencester Park on Sunday, writes Ed Mezzetti.

The 25-year-old Witney Roadrunner tops the senior and overall ladies rankings with one round to go after excelling in the freezing, boggy conditions.

Ridley clocked 24mins 43secs for the 6.5km course to beat second-placed Jessica Franklin (Newbury) by 11 seconds.

With her title rival Sophie Crumly (Newbury) not racing, Ridley’s determination to compete, despite the previous day’s heavy snowfall, paid dividends.

“It was freezing,” said Ridley, who lives in Ascott-under-Wychwood.

“My feet felt like ice all the way round. It was very tough to run in the soggy conditions.

“I like the course and really wanted to run it.

“Luckily, my dad had snow tyres so we could get out of the village and make the race.

“I have won twice and come second once and third once this season, so it all goes own to the final race.”

Ridley, who is an army officer based at South Cerney, near Cirencester in Glouces-tershire, felt her hard work had been handsomely rewarded.

“I didn’t really really get to train that much over the Christmas period because I was away ski-ing,” she said.

“But after the previous round at Middleton Cheney, I have trained hard, so I was delighted to get the win.”

Ridley will compete in the Welsh Cross Country Cham-pionships on February, but will miss the Inter-County Championships with Oxfor-dshire on March 10 due to her training commitments with the army.

As for fitting her training in, she said: “I just try to get out in the morning before I start work.”

Woodstock Harrier Jessica Webb finished fifth in the ladies’ race as she crossed the line in 26.24.

Meanwhile, Steve Naylor can no longer defend his men’s title after he chose not to compete in the race on Sunday.

Athletes must race four out of five races to qualify and Naylor had already missed the first round.

The 32-year-old, from Woodstock, who is due to race in Armagh International 5K in Northern Ireland on Thursday, said: “I did not want to aggravate my Achilles, which has been a bit bruised since the South of England Championships.

“I had to have some ultrasound on it.

“Injuries aside, and assuming I’m in good shape for the Inter-counties, I will run the last round at Wittenham Clumps as I fancy running another new course.”