Wind thwarts even the best

Monday 24th March 2008, 9:29AM GMT.

Lee Merrien overcame windy conditions to win the Keith Falla memorial cross-counttry.

LEE MERRIEN made it two wins out of two with victory in the Keith Falla Memorial cross-country, but for many in Saturday’s field there was only one real winner – the wind.

Vicky Gill, one of the UK’s top distance runners, may never forget her L’Ancresse ‘full-course’ debut, collapsing exhausted and battered to submission by the elements after being beaten in the women’s standings by Aldershot and Farnham team-mate Andrea Woodvine.

It was a race for the brave hearted. ‘I couldn’t feel my face with the cold,’ said Kerry Robin, leading home woman finisher on day one but third in the second of four back-to-back races. ‘It will probably take me all afternoon to warm up,’ she added.