Today, I ran in an EYAL fixture in Stevenage. It was an under-13s event, which meant it was mostly for Year 6 and Year 7 children. I’m only in Year 5, so I was really lucky that my coach allowed me to take part. Because of my age, I was running as a non-scorer for my club, meaning my result wouldn’t count towards the team’s final score. Still, I was very excited to be given the chance to race with older runners and to test myself in a proper competition.
I chose to run the 1500 metres, which is three and three-quarter laps around the athletics track. It had already been a tiring week because I’d raced on both Tuesday and Thursday. This was my third run in just a few days, so I didn’t know how my body would cope. Even so, I was determined to try my best. My goal was to beat my personal best for 1500 metres, which was 5 minutes and 9.70 seconds. I also had a new target of 5 minutes flat, which I knew would be hard but worth going for.
Before the race started, I found out that all the scorers and non-scorers would be running together in one big race. Usually, each club has one A team runner, one B team runner, and then any non-scorers. So in my race, there were about 20 runners in total. Around 16 of them were scorers, and the rest were like me – non-scorers. That meant I would be racing against some of the best under-13 runners from many different clubs.
When the race started, I ran fast and got into the lead around 100 to 150 metres in. I felt strong at the start but was soon passed by a few older boys and dropped to third or fourth place. I knew my plan – to stick to my lap times and keep pushing. The two boys ahead of me were from my own club and were both in Year 7. They’re very fast runners. I worked hard to stay in third place, and whenever someone passed me, I quickly fought back to get my place back.
For most of the race, I stayed in third position, doing everything I could to keep up with the leaders. I wanted to help my club get top positions – first, second, and third – which is really rare and very special. By finishing third, I also beat all the other clubs’ A and B team runners, which made me feel very proud. I finished with a time of 5 minutes and 7.29 seconds – a new personal best for me in the 1500 metres!
Overall, I was really pleased with my performance. Even though I was the youngest runner in the race, I held my own and ran my fastest 1500 metres ever. I’ve got another 1500 metre race next weekend, and I’m already looking forward to trying to beat this time again. It was a brilliant day, a great experience, and I feel very proud of myself for everything I achieved.
