A HELENSBURGH athlete has competed for Scotland in the British and Irish Masters Cross Country Championships.

Helensburgh Amateur Athletic Club member Claire Heasman recently returned from the competition after placing fifth in Scotland's female 50-54 team.

The event was hosted by Northern Ireland at the Billy Neill MBE Country Park in Belfast and featured athletes aged between 35 and 80 from England, Scotland, Wales, Northern Ireland and Ireland on Saturday, November 16.

Claire gained automatic qualification for her age category to represent her country after qualifying at the Scotland trials races at Tollcross Park in October.

Claire HeasmanClaire Heasman (Image: Contributed) The 2km circuit was a mostly uphill opening kilometre but featured a mostly very fast second half and was well received by most competitors.

And despite her completing the race in 24 minutes and nine seconds, she helped to secure the team silver for Scotland, well clear of England in bronze and only an agonising one point behind the gold medal-winning team, Ireland.

Ireland took the overall title from England, who have traditionally dominated the five-way international since the event began in 1988, only losing control post-Covid in the 2022 event.

Scotland came away from this year's championship with 14 team medals and 10 individual medals.

For more information about Helensburgh Amateur Athletic Club visit their website at helensburghaac.com.