Colchester Harriers eighteen-year-old endurance running sensation, Lizzie ‘The Whizz’ Wellsted, lived up to her nickname by bagging her third Great Britain vest at the Liverpool Cross Challenge on Saturday. The race acted as an under-twenty’s qualifier for the upcoming European Cross Country Championships in Turkey. A huge start list, a stacked field and never-ending mud and rain did not phase Lizzie. Starting quickly but sensibly, she ran her own race, moving through the field and timing her charge to perfection to secure a comfortable third place finish over the 4.4km course and the coveted Great Britain vest.

Lizzie had opened her season’s cross-country account the previous week by coming second in the Cardiff Under twenty’s Cross Challenge race. In much firmer and drier conditions than in Liverpool, Lizzie took second place behind the seemingly unbeatable (at domestic level) Innes Fitzgerald. An indication of Lizzie’s form and improvement was her 1-minute and 5 seconds faster time over the same race and course from last year.

Although we do not see Lizzie as much now, as she is based in Leeds at university, we will still be cheering her on as vociferously as ever when she represents Great Britain at Under 20 level in the European Cross-Country Championships in Antalya, Turkey, on the 8^{th of} December. Lizzie will be hoping to defend the European team gold she helped to win at the same event in Brussels last year. Have a great race, Lizzie!