Celebrating: Steph Barnes (left) with friend after her latest personal best in France
THERE was a great performance by Steph Barnes in France over the weekend.
The Bristol & West AC runner from north Somerset, who has been living in Belgium for several years now, dipped under 34 minutes for the first time in her career with a sparkling time of 33mins 48secs in the Les Foulees Valenciennoises 10k, Valenciennes, on Sunday.
That time earned her seventh place in a competitive race but more importantly for Barnes it carved 27 seconds off the time she set just over a year ago in Luxembourg.
To put that mark into context it immediately puts Barnes 11th in the UK Rankings and is the fastest time by a West Country runner this year.