HARTFORD High School maths teacher Gavin Tomlinson is continuing where he left off in 2022 in terms of getting his numbers down.

The class act will be representing Cheshire at the UK Inter Counties Cross Country Championships at Prestwold Hall in Loughborough on Saturday, March 11.

This follows his win for Chorlton Runners in the senior men's race at the Cheshire Cross Country Championships staged at Knight's Grange in Winsford on January 8 – his first in the main event, although he was first in his age group last year.

Although Tomlinson, who competed for Vale Royal between 2004 and 2010, is an over 40s veteran now, over the past 12 months he has been producing the form of his life.

This continued to show when he was first man over the line and clear of his nearest rival by one minute and 54 seconds in the 2023 Cheshire Cross Country Championships. He was in command throughout, leading from start to finish.

Tomlinson, who has also pulled on the vests of Sale Harriers and Trafford in a running career going back to 1999, achieved six personal best performances over different events in 2022 and racked up some fine wins too.

He ran 26.2 miles faster than he has done so before when clocking 2hrs 26mins 05secs in the Amsterdam Marathon in October, just a fortnight after winning the men's races in the Chester Metric Marathon and one month earlier in the Wrexham Half Marathon.

His other PBs in 2022 came via the Mid Cheshire 5K (14mins 39secs, first over 40) in August, the Telford 10K (30mins 32secs, second over 40) in December, the Brampton to Carlisle 10-miler (50mins 07secs, first over 40) in November and the Wilmslow Half Marathon (67mins 47secs, second over 40) in March.

It would not be a surprise to see the numbers falling again this year.