Former Austin Friars school pupil Charlotte Arter is hoping to set some new personal bests this year.

Arter works as a performance sport officer for Cardiff University but is from Stockdalewath, near Dalston and her parents still live in the village in Cumbria.

And she has enjoyed some impressive results this winter, including at the GB Cross Country trials in Liverpool in November as she finished in second place.

She said: "It draws the top British athletes. The aim was to improve on the year before when I came 12th.

"I came second, which was great. But the course suited me down to the ground."

That performance earned Arter automatic qualification to the European Cross Country Championships for her first major championship race as a senior international.

Arter finished in 43rd place at the event in Italy and admitted she was disappointed with her performance, although there was some team success for the senior women's GB team, who made the podium.

"It was a tough race. I was really disappointed with my individual performances," she said.

"I couldn't go with the pace. I went off too quickly. But it was a great experience."

But arguably Arter's best performance this winter came last weekend when representing GB at the Great Edinburgh International Cross Country.

She finished in seventh place but, perhaps more impressively, was the first GB athlete to cross the finishing line.

Arter said: "It was a really good level competition.

"I felt I proved myself. The course suited me again. Hailing from the North, I'm used to the mud. I beat two girls that went to the Rio Olympics."

On her goals for this year, she added: "I'm in completely different shape to what I was in last year.

"My goal this year is to get new personal bests."

Speaking about her job at Cardiff University, and attempting to get the right balance between work and training, she said: "We have got 70 athletes on the programme.

"It's a support programme for them, really. It's good, I love it. It's close to what I'm doing.

"At the moment, the balance between work and training is working."