GUERNSEY’S top middle-distance runner Lee Merrien finished ninth in a cross-country race to test his fitness in Belgium at the weekend. The 28-year-old made the top 10 in a fairly small field in Dour after having recently returned from high altitude training in South Africa.

It was the final event in a series of cross-country races in Belgium and included runners from that country, England, Bahrain, Morocco and other places.

‘It was not too bad – I was reasonably happy but I lost a little bit of concentration at the beginning of the fifth lap. It was a six-lap course and there were some sharp turns with some man-made ditches. Under-foot it was quite firm.

‘There were four English guys and there were three in front of me and one behind. I did it because I wanted a race and to test my fitness before the next two important events,’ said Merrien.

He is aiming to make the British team at the trials for the World Cross-Country Championships at the end of March in Edinburgh.

However, in a fortnight’s time he will be competing in the national championships.