While 2 billion people watched a commoner become a British Princess on Friday night, Sue Crowe prepared to become the Queen - The Dirty Northern Trail Running Queen. With a dominant win in Monday’s Gold Rush Trail Marathon following on from a win in April’s Speewah Legend Footrace, Sue has run herself into an unbeatable position in the 2011 Trail Running Series. With the best two performances of three (including the Spiny Cray Ultra) counting  towards Series calculations, Sue is guaranteed to be crowned Trail Running Queen at the Spiny Cray Ultra in September.

In the male series however, The Gold Rush Trail Marathon has revealed a number of contenders. Matt Hermann is the current series leader (2nd Speewah Legend, 3rd Gold Rush Marathon) but may need to beat home Mike Le Roux (Gold Rush winner), Dave Wood (Speewah Legend winner), Chris White (Gold Rush 2nd) and Steve Cunningham ( Gold Rush 4th) to retain his grip on the title following the Spiny Cray Ultra.

And with all the recent buzz regarding royalty, it may come as no surprise that the Dirty Northern Trail Running Crew have managed to get hold of a couple of shiny thrones.  These will take pride of place on the deck of the Highlander Tavern following the Spiny Cray Ultra and offer the 2011 King and Queen a chance to rest their royal - and weary legs.