JAMES Bagot is clearly a runner who loves cross country.

While his club Swindon Harriers prioritises the Oxfordshire Cross Country League, 12-year-old Bagot has also decided to take on the Gloucestershire League as well.

So far he is coping pretty well with the dual challenge.

In the Oxfordshire League, he has put together two second places, while in the Gloucestershire series, he opened with a third and then, last weekend, followed up with a fourth place over a gruelling course near Thornbury.

Coach John Dill said: “James is a boy who loves to race.

“He has been doing really well in the Oxfordshire League with those two second places and is making the most of his last winter in the U13s group.”

Bagot, who is a student at Cirencester’s Deer Park School, also finished fifth in the recent Gloucestershire Championships junior boys’ race, in which training partner and fellow Harrier Fletcher Hart was runner-up.

“James has been with me for four years now and is an important member of the squad,” added Dill.

“He is a quiet lad but trains hard with the group on Saturday, Tuesday and Thursday most weeks.

“James is actually a very good all-rounder and as well as cross country, can also run a quick 200m!”

That is certainly an unusual combination but that sort of speed could be very useful in a sprint finish at the end of a tight race so it seems like Bagot has all the qualities to go along way in the sport.

Also at the Old Down Country Park on Saturday, Highworth Running Club’s Kiya Dee extended her unbeaten start to the season with another emphatic victory in the U15s girls’ race.

It was Dee’s eighth successive win since the cross country season started – and included one on the road in the Great South junior run – so represents a fantastic end to the year for the teen and one that sets her up nicely for the major championships in 2020.

Sister Taya finished as runner-up.