YATE athlete Ben Rawlins ran one of his best races of the year to win the Boxing Day 3k event at Clevedon’s road races.

In front of a big crowd, the Westbury Harriers athlete, now training as a triathlete, shared the lead for the first kilometre along the seafront before easing ahead and winning by nearly 200 metres from Bath RC and Wells City athletes.

Rawlins, 16, a student at Katharine Lady Berkeley’s School, Wotton-under-Edge, combines a gruelling swim and run training schedule and will now add more cycling as he looks to move up the British rankings.

Rawlins’ coach Mike Mewse, another Westbury runner, dashed off from the junior presentation to run the four mile race but was pipped by 0.3 seconds (26.06.6mins) to the Vet 60 title in a field of 973 runners but was pleased to match Rawlins’ £20 prize.

He commented: “A good morning’s running – great conditions and fantastic crowd support. Really pleased with the results but just one too many mince pies away from getting a double win!”