Purbrook Ladies 5 success is icing on the cake for Jolley after going one better than last year

The City of Portsmouth athlete won in 30min 35sec after a scorching start and she knew she had her club-mate Emma Montiel chasing her all the way to finish second in 30.50 as well as Gosport’s Nikki Moxham who took third place (31.40).

For Jolley it’s been a brilliant year so far with lots of personal bests and she is now reaching the end of the season looking set to confirm her Hampshire Road Race League crown again as well.

She’s been absolutely flying across all distances having shone in the London Marathon and earned an England vest.

Now she’s the Purbrook Ladies 5 champion as well after missing out on the title by just one second last year.

She said: ‘I love this course, I like hilly courses so I’m pleased.

‘I’m finding my shorter legs after doing more longer distances for the marathon.

‘Emma (Montiel) and Nikki are running really strongly, so they gave me a good run for my money. They didn’t make it easy for me.

‘I knew Emma was chasing me down. We work quite well together.

‘Over the shorter stuff it is quite close between us so we generally run quite well together – we tend to push each other quite well.’

Jolley is a big fan of the race hosted by Portsmouth Joggers and it was nice for her to celebrate victory after so many good performances this season.

She added: ‘It is quite a nice laid back atmosphere compared to some races.

‘To see a lot of support is nice and it raises money for charity. It’s really good, I really enjoyed it.

‘It’s a challenging course. You forget how hilly it is, especially the second bit. It always catches you out. It’s a nice change.

‘The season has been really good, probably my strongest so far. I’ve run three or four personal bests this year so I’m very happy.’