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Sheila Jones cemented her position as one of the country’s top veteran runners in 2022.

The Radcliffe Athletic Club member notched up a raft of wins in the WV65 category throughout the year – as well as running some of the fastest times in the UK.

Her achievements were recognised when she won the Nellie Halstead Award – named after the former Radcliffe Olympian – for exceptional achievement in competition at RAC’s recent awards ceremony.

Jones ran the second fastest 20-mile time in her age group in 2022, a speedy 2:58:24 at the Trimpell 20 in Lancaster in March. She followed this with the 8th fastest marathon time of 4:00:10 at April’s Manchester Marathon.

The superb results continued with the 18th fastest 10k of 47:12 at Salford in April, while her time of 1:49:27 in May’s Manchester Half Marathon was the 23rd fastest over 13.1 miles.

Overall, Jones – who represented England at the 2019 Celtic Nations Masters Marathon Championship – is ranked as the 22nd best runner in her age category.

She kicked off her winning year by clocking 50:13 to come first in her age group at the popular – and hilly – Blackburn Winter Warmer 10k in February. She rounded it off with another win when she ran 48:27 at December’s Ribble Valley 10k – with many others in between.

On top of that, the prolific parkrun participant regularly topped her age group at the 5k events around the country. She also notched up top age graded performances – the best results at individual events when age is taken into account.

Donna Cartwright, Radcliffe AC chairwoman, said: “It’s a privilege to have Sheila at our club; not only is she a fantastic runner but such a lovely person too.

“Her achievements to date are outstanding by any standard, and we’re excited to see what 2023 will bring for her.”