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.

Today, I took part in the Aldershot, Farnham and District race. This race was quite special because it was a 1000 metre run on an athletics track. That’s two and a half laps around the track, and it’s a distance I’ve never raced before. I’ve seen races for 800 metres and 1500 metres, but never 1000 metres, so I was really excited to give it a try. I already enjoy running the 1500 metres, so I thought this shorter middle-distance race would be interesting and fun.

We left home thinking it would take just an hour to get to the race, but the journey ended up taking an hour and a half. That meant we were running a bit late. My race was due to start just after 7pm. When we finally got there, I quickly began warming up and getting ready. I was excited and a little nervous. There were two heats for the 1000 metre race, and I was placed in the second heat with my sister. That gave me a bit of time to watch the first heat and plan my strategy.

Today, I ran in the East Anglian Southern Area Under 11 Athletics Championships 2025. I was chosen to represent my school in the Under 11 800-metre race, and I was very excited. This was my first 800-metre race of the 2025 track season, so I really wanted to do well. A few days earlier, I had a poor run in the 1500 metres and I wasn’t happy with my performance. I wanted to forget that race and focus on doing much better in the 800 metres today. I had also run a great 600-metre race on Sunday, which gave me lots of confidence. I knew I had a good chance to run a fast time today.

There were two heats for the 800-metre race, and I was placed in Heat 2. I found out that the winner would be decided by the fastest time across both heats, not just who won their own heat. I really wanted to be the overall winner. In Heat 1, the winning time was 2 minutes and 38 seconds, and I believed I could run faster than that. My goal was to run between 2 minutes 30 and 2 minutes 35. I knew it would be tough, but I felt ready and focused.

Today was my chance to bounce back after a tough 1500m race earlier in the week. I competed at Woodside Stadium in the Watford Harriers Minor Open Challenge, running the 600m event. This distance is one and a half laps around the track, and I felt comfortable racing here because it's where I used to train with Watford Harriers.

Before this race, my personal best stood at 1:52.65 seconds. My big goal was to break 1 minute 50, though I knew that would be challenging. I had an extra bit of excitement - and nerves - because I was wearing brand new spikes I'd only bought the day before. I hadn't even had a chance to train in them, so I wasn't sure how they would feel during the race.