A TEACHER from North Yorkshire who was one of the world’s top distance runners has been inducted into the Welsh Athletics Hall of Fame.

Angela Tooby-Smith, a teacher at St Peter’s School in York, was awarded the honour at a ceremony in Cardiff.

Born in Hereford, she qualified to run for Wales while studying at Aberystwyth University – along with her identical twin sister Susan.

By the 1980s she was a top distance athletes, competing in athletics competitions across the globe.

She was the Welsh cross country champion five times and won both the English and UK cross country championships. In 1986 she won the Commonwealth Games bronze medal in the 10000m.

In 1988 she won the silver medal in the World Cross Country Championship in New Zealand and represented Great Britain in both the World Championship and the Seoul Olympic Games at 10,000m – the first time this distance event had been run by women.

She raced behind the old Iron Curtain on many occasions and now draws on these experiences when she teaches geography and global perspectives at St Peter’s, helping students understand the relationship between politics and sport.