SOPHIE Bates spearheaded the Croydon Harriers challenge at the latest round of the Surrey Women's League at Nonsuch Park last Saturday thanks to a top 50 finish.
Bates finished 50th with 26 minutes and 52 seconds over the 6km course in the 342-strong field, while she followed this up with a bronze medal at the Kingston 10K 24 hours later.
In the young athletes races at Nonsuch, Stevie Lawrence finished fifth in the U17s women's race and in the U15s category, Naomi Carty was 32nd, Josie Kavanagh 36th and Fiona Kirby-Walker 46th to group well out of 49 finishers. The team placed sixth overall.
Ellie McCormack kept the flag flying in the U13 girls' race finishing 27th in the field of 39.
On Sunday, a further 12 young athletes were in action at the Downs Cross-Country League with Emily Howe finishing runner-up (U15 girls), while Angus Harrington (U13 boys) and Rob Spalding (U15 boys) both finished fourth among the highlights.
The U13 and U15 teams are both third in the team standings with two fixtures remaining.
At the Pirie 10-mile race at Farthing Downs, David Brown was 17th in one hour, three minutes and 36 seconds.
In the pick of the ParkRun action, Peter Chambers won the Dulwich ParkRun by over half-a-minute, triumphing in 16 minutes and two seconds.
