Today I ran at the Watford Harriers Junior Challenge 2025, and it was an exciting and tough race. I knew it wouldn’t be easy because last year I only won by two seconds. That made me feel a bit nervous, but also really motivated to do my best and try to beat my old time. The weather was good, and there were lots of other runners ready to go. I was ready too and couldn’t wait to start.
At the beginning of the race, I was in 3rd place. I felt strong and tried to stay close to the front. After a short while, another boy overtook me, which put me in 4th. I stayed calm and focused on my own pace. The first kilometre went really well and I kept pushing hard. For most of the race, the positions didn’t change, and I stayed in 4th place all the way to the end.
Even though I didn’t get back into the top three, I finished the race with a time of 8 minutes and 41 seconds. That’s only two seconds off the winning time from last year, which shows how close the race was. I also came first for the Under 10 boys by a big margin, which made me feel really proud. The runners ahead of me were all in the Under 14 age group, so I was happy to be right behind them.
I had set myself a goal to run at a pace of 3 minutes and 35 seconds per kilometre, and I came very close to that. My watch showed I ran a total distance of 2.43 kilometres, and I kept a strong pace from start to finish. It wasn’t easy, but I kept going and didn’t give up.
At the end of the race, I saw that I had reached an age grading of 87.45%, which is really good. It means I ran a very strong race for my age, and it shows how much I’ve improved through training and hard work. Seeing that number made me feel really proud of my performance.
Even though I didn’t win overall, I was very happy with how I ran. I did my best, came first in my age group, and ran close to my goal pace. I’m already looking forward to the next race and aiming to go even faster. I know I can do it if I keep training and stay focused.
