LOUISA Powell-Smith overcame shingles and cramp to win the Pendle and Burnley Grand Prix.

But the 39-year-old said fitting in the required nine races posed the biggest challenge.

Ribble Valley Harrier Powell-Smith made it a clean sweep of first place finishes to win the women's title in the final race at Boulsworth.

But as a busy mum-of-two it was not just the race clock she was up against.

"The hardest part was trying to fit nine of the 14 races in.

"I had shingles in May and also missed a few due to work commitments so I was really struggling," Powell-Smith explained.

"The Worsthorne race was probably the hardest because we didn't get back from holiday until 4am so I did that one on no sleep.

"I didn't do any training when I was ill but I was still trying to fit the races in.

"The last one at Boulsworth was a tough one too because I got cramp and had to stop, and then fell down a ditch.

"The second lady was catching me and I couldn't let her so I just had to keep going and limp over the line.

"I won by 16 seconds.

"It's been a tough year but that is something good to come out of it."

Having agonisingly missed out on her initial target of earning a GB vest in the World Mountain Trials this year by just one place, the off-road runner targeted the Grand Prix as consolation.

"I won the Lancashire Cross Country and Lancashire Fell Championships so I really wanted the England vest next," said Powell-Smith, who lives in Ightenhill, Burnley.

"I lost out to Caitlin Rice in the end. She deserved it, she was fantastic. And there's always next year.

"I came 18th so I didn't do too bad. But the first eight England counters got the GB vest and I was the ninth counter.

"After that I refocused and targeted the grand prix.

"If I had got the GB vest I wouldn't have been able to do all the grand prix races because I would have had races that clashed."

Powell-Smith is a former junior runner for England but stopped competing for 21 years due to family and work commitments.

She returned to racing two years ago and is glad she did.

"The grand prix has been great because there have been so many new runners this years of all abilities and we are all really supportive of each other, cheering each other on," she said.

"I'm hoping to focus on the cross country next with the season starting at the end of September-beginning of October."