The 2008 PSUK Cross Country Championships were staged by Gwent Police at Pontypool Park where the organisers were blessed with a sunny dry late winter/ early spring day, some 400 athletes competed over a hilly picturesque parkland venue.  The Championships incorporated the selection races for the teams to represent PSUK at the USPE Cross- Country Championships being hosted by France in Vichey in March 2008.  The first four athletes in each race would gain automatic selection with two discretionary places to be decided later in the day. 

The course for both men and women could be described as hilly and challenging!

The women ran two complete laps, covering a distance of approximately 6km and the men ran three complete laps, approximately 10km in distance.

The venue itself was within Pontypool Park, both races starting and finishing on the famous Pontypool Rugby Pitch.  From the pitch the athletes ran down to the Afon Llwyd River and along its river bank before turning and heading back towards the first of their hill climbs.  The course then climbed a total of 800m through a wooded area onto pasture land before reaching the peak of the climb at the Shell Grotto and then turning to descend the hill towards the top of the ski slope, before turning into a wooded area, culminating in the crossing of a stream before negotiating a short sharp climb to the ‘Stones’.  The athletes then descended the hill running on the diagonal to the rugby pitch completing their lap.

The women went off first, by the time they had reached the start of the first climb up to the Grotto, a break-away group being led by Kate Swanson, (City of London), last years champion, had formed. This group included Katherine Reeves (Metropolitan), Sarah Simmonds (West Midlands), Janine Brown (British Transport Police), Jessica Turnbull (Gloucestershire) Natalie Farrow (Humberside) and Diane Lauder (Lothian & Borders).  By the end of the first lap Turnbull had taken control of the race and led the women into their second lap by some 20- 30 metres.  Simmonds was giving chase in second place with Brown in third.  These positions remained unchanged to the finish, Turnbull taking the Championships in a time of 33mins 55secs, for the first time in eight years.  With places up for grabs to represent PSUK in the USPE Cross-Country Championships in Vichey, Reeves ran strongly to finish fourth, Lauder  finishing fifth and Amanda Purser (Hampshire) finishing sixth overall and taking the leading Vets Championship.  All first six finishers were later selected to represent PSUK in the European Championships.

Other top performances came from Kate Armstrong (Cambridgeshire), Kendra White (Cleveland) and Gaby Waring (North Wales) who won their respective age categories. 

The Metropolitan ladies retained the overall Championship team title, with Gloucestershire taking the Minor Forces team title and the Metropolitan taking the Veterans team title. 

In the men’s race, David Mitchinson (Hertfordshire), making his first championship appearance as a police officer, was in control of the race by the time the men had reached the start of the first climb up to the Grotto.  Mitchinson was followed by Steve Rhys-Jones (Hampshire) and Ben Whitby (City of London) who in turn were being chased by a group which included Steve Cairns (Lothian & Borders), Darrel May ( Hampshire), Peter Tucker (Metropolitan), Richard Gardner (South Wales), Ian Wetherall ( V40 – Cheshire), Malcolm Fowler ( V45 - Cheshire), Ben Gamble (Staffordshire) and Darren Riley ( V40 - West Midlands).  By the end of the first lap Mitchinson had established a good lead over Rhys- Jones in Second and Whitby in third.  May was chasing in fourth, with Gardner in fifth and Tucker in sixth.  Over the final two laps Mitchinson extended his lead over Rhys-Jones who in turn extended his lead over Whitby. Mitchinson took the title in 38mins 31secs.  May ran strongly to finish fourth, with Tucker taking Gardner on the final lap to finish fifth and Gardner finished sixth.  Of the first six finishers, Mitchinson, Rhys-Jones, Whitby and Tucker gained automatic selection for the European Championships.  May who is a Police Community Support Officer was not eligible for selection and Gardner did not wish to be considered. The final two discretionary places for the Europeans were awarded to Martin Williams (West Midlands) and Steve Cairns. 

Not too far behind the first six, Fowler finished eighth overall, first Vets 45, with Wetherall finishing two places behind to take the Vets 40 category and Riley taking second. Des Michael (Hertfordshire) had a very good run finishing just in front of Mick Bond (Essex) both winning their respective age categories. With Eddie Murfin (Lincolnshire) winning the Vets 60 prize. 

Just like their female colleagues, the Metropolitan retained the overall Championship team title, with Cheshire taking the Veterans team title and Northamptonshire taking the Minor Forces team title.