KATE Jacobs returned to action at the weekend following a terrific track season and continued where she had left off, writes KEVIN FAHEY During a super summer, the 38-year-old Swindon Harrier, from Stratton St Margaret, won both the British Masters and Wiltshire titles over 5,000m and also improved her personal best to 17 minutes, 11.39 seconds over the distance,which was the fourth-quickest in the country in her age group.

Jacobs certainly deserved her end-of-season break but her rivals in the Cricklade 10k on Sunday might be forgiven for thinking whether she had stopped running at all as they trailed her home by more than five minutes.

“I wanted to support a nice local event as I used to live around there and know the course well,” said Jacobs.

“I have done the race and know there is a nasty hill in it, so I was very pleased to run my fastest time on the course, especially as I have just had a break from training and enjoyed a week of eating and drinking.

“It was time to re-charge the batteries and get the enthusiasm back up after a really good summer.

“I was really pleased with how it went on the track this year; winning the British Masters title, running a PB over 5,000m and coming within a whisker of a PB in the 3,000m as well.

“Running Cricklade was a chance to see what sort of shape I was in after that rest.”

And the answer is in pretty decent shape, which suggests a good winter lies ahead for Jacobs.

A distant second behind Jacobs in a field of 224 finishers was Caroline Blake of Chippenham Harriers, while Cirencester AC’s Adrian Williams won the men’s race for the first time in a new club record for over 40s, ahead of clubmate Bill Leggate.

There was further local success in the half marathon with John Lewis of Swindon Striders finishing second behind Chippenham-based Team Bath runner Stuart Henderson.

The race also incorporated the Wiltshire Championships, with Lewis also adding the silver medal behind Henderson.