Northampton runner wins county championships despite losing sole of her 20-year-old shoe

A Northampton woman has won the Ladies Seniors County Championship despite the sole falling of her shoe with three-and-a-half miles to go.

The XC Northampton Cross Country Championships were held at Delapre Abbey on Saturday (January 6).

Julie-Ann had trained immensely to win the four mile race to obtain the ‘masters trophy’ and qualify for the Inter County competition in Loughborough in March.

But she did not realise that she would be doing most of the race without a complete shoe…

The 51-year-old said: “I felt the base of my shoe coming away and it started flipping around.

“I knew I was ahead in the masters female race and cross country boots are tight, I could not take them off.

“I knew I had to run and accept that mud was getting inside it and there was no alternative but to run the race in the way that I did.

“I wanted to get selected to represent the county, there was no way I was going to pull out!”

The Delapre route is scenic but not straightforward, with off-path track and trails all a part of the cross country race.

Julie-Ann described how the terrain caused her to “slip” and even “fall-over” due to the state of her footwear. It was also full of “rocks” and “roots” leaving her foot “badly bruised”.

Despite the difficulty she crossed the finish line in first place. Julie-Ann said: “I felt emotional, it added an extra layer of work keeping myself upright gave me such a challenge.”

Her race was one of many with eight different categories ranging from under 11s to seniors, crossing distances from 2,000 to 9,000 metres.

She said: “I want to try and inspire as many people as possible it's good to get coverage and make people aware as the races are challenging and don’t get a lot of funding.

“It is positive to see youngsters out in the fresh air and working hard, even if I am still beating them.”

The trainers in question have been used in her races for around 20 years, but Julie-Ann has now replaced them to ensure she can hopefully compete in Loughborough.