On what was a perfect night for running this Wednesday we had to feel very sorry for Kirk Swann and Laurie Parr. They both ran very well and gained new personal best times for the Stag course, but neither were anywhere near the top ten, as eight other people also gained PB's.

The winner on the night for the second time in two months was Helen Crossland, whose 25.22 was 1.40 quicker than her previous best. She was followed home by Charlie Mead and Joe McGarry who have both finished the cross-country season strongly and clearly had a battle all the way around this penultimate Stag of the season, with Charlie just sneaking under 16 minutes.

John Adam was six minutes outside his best in fourth place, but it's fair to say he achieved that more than a couple of years ago so well done John anyway. Amy Inchley took fifth in another new PB as she went under 17 minutes for the first time and just behind her was Pete Mackrell, fresh from his 20 mile race on Saturday to join the exclusive sub 14 club with 13.50.

Jo Breslin ran very well to add to the PB's list with 16.05 and Jordan Clay is now just two seconds away from his fathers best after running 14.37. The final PB was Billy Mead who is now down to 14.13 for the 2.5 mile course but only earned 17 points for the effort. Just behind Billy and returning to the Stag for the first time in nine years was Rob Elmore who ran the fastest time of the year with 13.07.

The overall competition is now a battle for the minor places as Pete Mackrell's 20 points on the night and Warren Rose and Andy failing to make the top ten means that he is the champion of the 2011/12 season. However, there are seven people who can still take silver and bronze medals for their season of efforts.

So a huge well done to all those that ran this week and congratulations for the extremely high standards achieved as it's great to see such improvement. It's also important to remember that it's those that turn up and run however they feel or what ever the weather that make the event worthwhile. i think most people will agree that it's much more enjoyable when there are 25 runners than when there are ten.

Full standings, PB's etc are all on the Stag Trophy pages of the site. The final race is on Wednesday 4th April – in the daylight!!