Two Cornish athletes kick-started the New Year cross-country season with superb victories in the South West Inter-Counties and Club Championships at the new venue of Killerton House, near Exeter.

East Cornwall Harriers runner Dan Nash regained the Under-20 Championship crown he won two years ago, while Finn Birnie took the Under-13 Boys' title and led the County team to one of the clearest wins of the day.

Some wondered whether the move away from the well-liked course at Bicton College could be matched by the National Trust grounds surrounding one of the main attractions in Devon, but the switch seems justified, with a mixture of slightly undulating grassland in front of the house, leading to a series of climbs – which most athletes described politely as severe – before a long sweeping downhill to the finish.

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