ADAM Hickey rounded off the most successful winter season of his career by sealing the British Cross Challenge title – despite fearing he had thrown it away in his last race.

The 26-year-old went into Saturday’s UK Intercounties Championships leading the cross challenge after winning two of the previous three races in the series.

But his rivals were breathing down his neck and with points worth double at the intercounties in Birmingham, Hickey knew he had to be among the leaders once again to take the title.

So when he lost touch with the leadersmid-way through the race, the Southend AC athlete knew he had to dig deep to finish as high up as possible.

In the end, Hickey crossed the line at sixth place, but with one of his main rivals, Andy Butchart taking the victory, he instantly feared the worst.

“I thought I had blown it again,” said Hickey. “I wasn’t really aware of what the situation was when I was running and it was only afterwards when they called it out on the tannoy that I learnt I had done enough.”

In the end Hickey had won the title by just one point and he could take pride from the fact he was the country’s most consistent cross-country runner over the winter.

The cross-challenge is four races, in Liverpool, Cardiff, Milton Keynes and Birmingham, which attracts the best runners in the country.

So to come out on top after that series says a lot about Hickey’s form this winter.

Add to that his superb ninth place at the European Cross-Country Championships then it has given the Southend AC athlete plenty to be upbeat about, even if his final two races of the winter – seventh at the English Cross-Country Championships and sixth in Birmingham on Sunday – were not what he was hoping for “It was a bit of a disappointing end to the season,” Hickey admitted. “But overall I am happy. I’ve won in both Cardiff and Milton Keynes and taken the Cross Challenge title which was a big objective at the start of the season.

“I wanted to be challenging for the big titles at the end of the winter but I can’t complain. This has probably been my best season ever, certainly as a senior.”

Hickey says he and coach Eamonn Martin are learning about how to plan his cross-country season each year and says they are not far off from getting it right.

“We are getting closer,” he said.

“I got ill before the national championships and ran when maybe others wouldn’t have. But that illness took it out of me.”

Hickey believes not finishing higher up in the two big races of the winter, the national championships and the intercounties, may have cost him a place at the World Cross-Country Championships in China at the end of the month.

“If I had finished in the top three in both of those races then there might have been a chance but even then it would have been down to the selectors.

“It’s a bit frustrating. In the juniors, if you finished in the top 10 at the European Championships you automatically got a place at the World Championships and if that was still the case I would have got in this time.

There would have been no harm in doing that.”