SISTERS Jessica and Jodie made it a day to remember for the Judd family at the UK Intercounties Championships.

Success is nothing new for the sisters, but even by their very high standards, Saturday must rank among their most memorable yet.

Jessica returned to winning ways with a tactically perfect victory in the under-17 women’s race, before Jodie ran the race of her life to seal a bronze medal in the under-13 girls’ event.

Of course, Jessica’s talent has long shone brightly, but this winter Jodie has proved she too is a force to reckoned with.

“I am so proud of her,” Jessica said about her little sister.

“She has always believed in herself and known what she has wanted. And she’s worked so hard for it.”

Jessica’s race was the first of the two to go off at Cofton Park, Birmingham, and after a second place at the Southerns and a third at the English Championships, the 17-year-old was delighted to return to the winning step of the podium against the best the UK has to offer.

And she did so by reigning in her natural desire to hit the front early, instead opting to sit in the leading pack before striking with about 1km to go.

“I worked out a plan with my coach (Jeremy Freeman) after the Nationals to try to use my 800m speed at the end and it worked perfectly,” said Jessica.

“It did feel a bit strange and there were times when I wanted to push on a bit, but I stuck to the plan and increased the pace slightly with 1km to go and then really attacked the last hill.”

With one eye on this summer’s track season, Jessica has admitted she’s had to let her cross-country form slip just slightly from the high standards she sets herself – and that made her victory in Birmingham even more special.

“I was a bit disappointed after the Southerns and Nationals,” she said. “I know if I focused a bit more on the cross-country I could be really competitive. It’s been tough and that’s why crossing the line felt so good.

“But it’s made me appreciate winning much more. Before the Southerns I don’t think I was enjoying it as much, winning the Intercounties has made me appreciate again how good it is to win.”

And if Jessica was feeling good having crossed the line, she was feeling even better soon after when she heard Jodie was running in third place in her race.

“It came across the tannoy that Jodie was in third just after my medal presentation and I thought, ‘I’d better get over there quick to cheer her on!’,” laughed Jessica. “She did amazingly well. We didn’t expect her to do what she did, but she believes in herself.”

And for her part, Jodie is just as proud of her big sister.

“It gave me such confidence to see Jess win,” said Jodie, who admitted being slightly distracted on her warm-up as she cheered on her sister.

“Yeah, I sort of forgot about that,” she added. “I was so happy for her. She’s such a big help to me. She gives me advice and walks the course with me, giving me tips. It’s great.”

Jodie, who attends Castle View School, didn’t get the start she was after in her race and found herself down the field after the first hill before “bombing it to make up ground”.

“I worked my way right through and found myself in the top three, I thought I was going to die,” she laughed. “It gave me a lot of confidence though as I was moving through the field and I was so happy to get third.

“I was hoping to get inside the top 10 again like I did at the National so to win a medal was amazing.”

And that was not the only medal Jodie won, as she led her team to silver in the team event too to cap what was a truly special day for the Canvey teens who medalled together for the first time at a major national championships.

“It turned out to be an amazing day,” said Jess.