A RUNCORN athlete was recognised for her outstanding achievement when she was given a tour of the Town Hall by Halton's mayor, Cllr Ron Hignett.

Karrie Howitt, 18, met Cllr Hignett after she beat thousands of other competitors to win the gold medal at the Alaska World Mountain Running Games recently.

She was awarded a £400 grant from Halton Council a few months ago to help her continue competing in mountain running, a tough and challenging sport.

As well as intensive training every day, Karrie is also taking her A-levels at Helsby High School and aspires to one day become a dentist. She also hopes to carry on competing as a mountain runner in the future.

Karrie began running competitively when she was just nine years old and progressed from running on the track to cross-country. She went on to take part in the World Cross-Country Championships before taking up mountain running about five years ago.

Cllr Ron Hignett said: "I am pleased to meet such a talented young person and I am sure that her hard work and determination to succeed will be an inspiration to other up and coming athletes all over Britain. I wish her every success in the future in both her chosen career and in mountain running."