Sat 21 April 2018, Nottingham
Preston Harriers Nathan Dunn and Byron Sowerby were both selected to represent the North West Colleges in the AoC Cross Country Championships at Wollaton park in Nottingham. The event was quite late in the season for a cross country race and the conditions were the polar opposite to the races earlier in the year – blue skies and glorious sunshine. It’s not very often that the spectators for a cross country are in t shirts and shorts. The boys’ race consisted of three and a half laps of the park beside Wollaton Hall taking the athletes up the infamous hill four times. The field quickly spread out as a result of the hills. Nathan Dunn, Zakariya Mahamed and Mark Bostock pulled clear on the second lap with Byron Sowerby positioned well in the chasing group. On lap 3 Dunn moved to the front and gradually pulled clear of both Mahamed and Bostock. The gap grew on the final lap with Dunn eventually finishing a minute ahead of second place. Sowerby had also put in a strong performance to claim 17th place overall. With all of the North West athletes placing high in the race Nathan and Byron also claimed team gold.