ByBrian Sacks, Brian Sacks
Shaftesbury Barnet’s young distance runners braved wind, rain and mud to take top positions in the Herts and Middlesex Cross Country Championships.
Maayan Radus, aged nine, displayed a tactical sense that belied her age to take victory in the Herts under-11 race over 1,500m at Watford.
She said: "The race went exactly as I had planned it. I made a strong push at the downhill section halfway around the course, and that left just four runners in the leading group.
"With about 60 metres to go I made my final sprint to the tape."
Radus’ sister Lia, 12, came fourth in the Middlesex under-13 race over 3,000m at Wormwood Scrubs.
She said: "A leading group of five of us had broken away from the field and we were together until 400 metres to go. I finished just eight seconds behind the winner."
Earlier in the week, Radus had cut her personal best 800m time to 2:32.46 in the Lee Valley New Year competition.
David Stone, 11, was narrowly beaten into second place in the Middlesex under-13 race, finishing four seconds behind Jamie Harper, who is the fastest under-13 runner in the country over 1,500m.
Jessica Hurley, 14, came fourth in the Herts under-15 race while her sister Rebecca, 15, placed ninth in the under-17 division.
George Grant, 15, began the year with a personal best pole vault of 3.52m at the Metaswitch Games at Lee Valley.