For Bristol & West AC runner Katie Knowles, the disappointment at missing out on a certain medal in Saturday's English Cross Country Relays at Mansfield will linger long in the memory.

A strong opening by Eleanor Wimshurst and then Knowles had put the club's Under-20 women in first spot and with a chance of causing an upset over the powerful Aldershot, Farnham & District AC squad.

But designated third stage runner Emily Merrick failed to turn up, meaning that Bristol's race was over as Knowles crossed the finish line.

Knowles said: "I think we would have definitely won the silver medals and maybe would have pushed Aldershot, Farnham & District for gold because we were quite well ahead of them at that stage.

"But it was very strange to get to the finish and not have a team-mate to hand over to. It has never happened to me before and was so frustrating."

The Bristol Schools' Cross Country Championships will be held at Bristol Grammar School on Wednesday, November 18 (2pm), while on the same day North Somerset stage their championships at Blaise Castle.

Blaise Castle is also the venue for the South Gloucestershire Schools' Championships on Tuesday, November 17 (1.30pm) with the Bath & North East Schools' event will be held at Kingswood School, Bath, on Thursday, November 19 (1.30pm).

The Avon Schools' Championships will be held on Saturday, January 7, also at Blaise, while the South West event will be at Truro School, in Cornwall, on Saturday, February 27.

Bitton Road Runners' Ross Hale was 50th (56:30) in the Over the Hills 12k multi-terrain race, with club-mates Nigel Cox 75th (61:14) and Kim Mead 130th (66:53) respectively.

Paul Sperrin was 30th and second veteran over-50 (30:36) in the Guy Fawkes 5-mile road race in Tewkesbury. Bitton Road Runners' club-mate Fiona Cramp was first woman, while Jo Webb and Lynette Porter were first and second in the over-45 group. There were also personal bests from Pete Clark (34:22), Chris Brown (36:35) and Janet Brown (37:00).

Any Bristol & West AC members who can help out at the Mike Sully and Gemma Butler Cross Country races should contact Nick Rose at: nickrose16@hotmail.com

Bristol firefighter Brian Penny, who has undergone operations on his feet this year, clocked a respectable 2:58.18 for 833rd place in Sunday's New York marathon.

Jonathan Goodland continued his good form by finishing sixth and top veteran over-50 in the Ilminster Lions 10k road race in 38mins 36secs. The race was won by Taunton AC's Luke Scott (34:32). There were 240 finishers. Nailsea Running Club's Sally Heslop was 120th (52:25).

The Hogweed Trotters' pair of Pat Hall and Duncan Macarthur completed the Snowdonia marathon in 4:15.27 and 4:35.27 respectively.

A sprints and relays coaching master-class, led by top British relay coach Roger Walters, is being staged by the Avon Athletics Network and England Athletics at the WISE Campus, Filton High School, on Saturday, November 28.

The session is free but places are limited so coaches must apply by email to Tim Snowdon at timothy.snowdon@uwe.ac.uk