Veteran distance runner Victoria Fiddick says winning the 8K cross country event in challenging conditions at last week’s World Masters Athletics Indoor Championships in Jyvaskla, Finland was no easy feat.The past Bermuda Day Half Marathon winner claimed the gold medal in the women’s 45-year age group in a winning time of 32 minutes and 54 seconds competing for her country of birth, Sweden.The UK’s Susan Ridley (33.08) and Spain’s Piedad Rodriguez (34.55) rounded off the top three respectively.Fiddick’s World Masters Athletics Indoor Championships debut proved to be a gruelling experience as she competed on a challenging course in frigid conditions.“It snowed two feet the night before the race and there was long stretches of ice under the snow and a lot of slush so it was a lot like running in sand, which I am use to from training on the beach here,” she said.Little did she know at the time, but a pair of cross country spikes the runner bought prior to the race would ultimately play a key factor in her success.“The course was partly on a asphalt walking path and I figured it would be cleaned, but that was not the case,” Fiddick said. “I was lucky a few days prior I had by chance walked by a running store in Sweden and bought long cross country spikes to use on grass in Bermuda, so they came in to good use. Most of the girls had spikes but not all.“So with the long spikes I had such a good grip. I felt totally confident that I could give it all under the hard conditions where a lot of runners were sliding and slipping.”Heading into the race the highly ranked Fiddick knew she had her work cut out against some fierce competition.“Going into the race I was ranked second but there was a few of us that had just about the same time the first ranked lady from the UK had run (29.30) which is almost two minutes faster than me so I knew there would be good competition,”’ she added.“They started the 35 to 55 age group altogether so we were about 40 runners. Most of the race I was running in the lead next to a girl from the 35 age group, but since the masters is all about competing in your age group you only had to worry about your age group runners.“My brother (Magnus) travelled with me and was great; he gave me updates every lap on what was happening behind me and on last lap he told me to pull back and try to save as much as I could since I had a 25 second lead on second place runner. In the end I finished just behind the girl in the 35 age group!”Fiddick said she doesn’t intend to defend her title at next year’s World Masters Athletics Indoor Championships in Brazil.“I would love to do it again next year in Brazil, but that’s not in my plans,” she said. “I looking at the Nordic Masters Championships 8K in Norway next year.”