Albion physio Louis Jones is keen to follow in the footsteps of three of the Seagulls stars he treats after finishing as the top Sussex man at the Reebok Brighton 10k on Sunday.

The Crawley AC runner continued his remarkable improvement in fortunes this season by coming third in 32mins.01sec despite terrible conditions.

Jones works closely with Albion's under-21 internationals Dan Harding, Adam Hinshelwood and Alexis Nicolas in his role as assistant to the club's chief physio Malcolm Stuart.

He admits their achievements have inspired him as he attempts to realise his own ambitions of representing his country.

Jones said: "I had an absolute blinder. I feel I am getting better with every race this season.

"In the future I want to earn a GB vest and if I keep improving the way I am then hopefully it won't be too far off.

"A change in the way I run has filled me with confidence. I used to go off too fast but now I am starting slower and working my way through the race.

"It was the perfect race from my point of view. I was flying."

Jones finished just seven seconds ahead of Brighton and Hove AC's Matt Bristow to be the first Sussex runner home and was only eight seconds behind runner-up Paul Doyle, of Ranelagh Harriers.

However, he was no match for winner David Taylor who surged away from the field at the start and maintained his lead throughout.

The European veterans 5,000m and 1,500m champion, who runs for Blackheath and Bromley AC, passed the 5k mark at 14min.48sec, but with the wind slowing him down and no one to push him on he just missed out on breaking the 30 minute barrier as he crossed the line in 30min.12sec.

Taylor, 40, said: "I didn't want a quick finish so I went out pretty hard from the start. I wanted to force the others to make up their mind whether they would come with me and I was surprised no one did.

"I was really happy with the way I ran and if the weather had been better and with a bit more competition I think I might have got under 30 minutes."

Shona Crombie-Hicks stormed to an even clearer victory in the women's race as she finished just under two minutes ahead of her nearest rival.

Crombie-Hicks, 33, who won the Flora 1,000 Mile Challenge in 2002 when she ran a mile every hour for six weeks before completing the London Marathon in an amazing 3hrs.8mins, triumphed in 35min.16sec before paying tribute to her new coach The Bourton Road Runners athlete said: "Norm Lane has had two hip replacements and recently walked from Lands End to John O'Groats. He is a real inspiration and makes you believe anything is possible."

Gill Wheeler, of Hailsham Harriers, won a sprint finish to be the first Sussex woman home in 37min.26sec. Vicki Boyle was just four seconds behind with Arena 80 team mate Chris Naylor a further three seconds back.

Tom Fuller, of Worthing and District Harriers, won the under-20 men's race in 33min.03sec ahead of Brighton and Hove's Andrew Donno and Lewes AC's Rob Mullett.

The Brighton and Hove quartet of Bristow, Paul Illott, David Boyce and Paul Froud took the men's team honours with the Arena 80 team of Boyle, Naylor, Julie Drake and Natasha Swan winning the women's prize.