THERE was a great start to 2018 for Tavistock Run Project athletes this weekend. 

The success began at the popular January Jaunt race in Plymouth where Emma Dooney and Ruth MacIntyre braved the elements to compete in this 10km muddy trail race. Both ladies ran extremely well, achieving excellent personal bests of more than seven minutes.

Following on from this, five team-mates were selected to represent Devon at the Southwest Cross Country Championships in Yeovil. The conditions were extremely bitter and the course that of a challenging cross country route — to be expected at this high level of competition.

The men’s race began at midday with Ben Neale, Jordan Andrews and Jim Cole all from TRP representing Devon. Three and a bit tough laps returned excellent results with the trio helping Devon men to seal a gold medal in the county team prize event. Jordan Andrews managed an excellent 12th place overall closely followed by Jim Cole in 20th and Ben Neale achieving a respectable 39th amongst a tough field of competitors. 

Next up to race were the women; from TRP were Rachael Malthouse and Sam Lake, who equally aided the Devon ladies to a team silver medal.