Havering’s young athletes enjoyed another successful year in Sunday’s London Mini Marathon, winning the 33 borough challenge for the second consecutive year,
The annual Virgin Money sponsored event sees athletes in under-13, under-15 and under-17 age groups run the final three miles of the London Marathon course finishing in The Mall.
Havering’s overall team success included two victories and two third places and with the other two teams finishing 11th it was enough to ensure the borough team defended its title.
The under-15 girls had an outstanding day, winning the team event as Abigail Ives overhauled Sydney Foley late on for a Havering one-two.
With Chloe Rand sixth and Natalie Serwell ninth, Havering won the team event.
Alice Brown (37th) and Chloe Trew (46th) completed the squad.
The under-13 race saw Havering victorious for the third year in a row, with three of the four scorers in the top 10 as Holly Watson led the way in fifth, Stephanie Okoro was eighth and Tilly Canty 10th.
Hannah Evans (35th), Freya Long (68th) and Charlotte Evans (69th) completed their line-up.
There were third-place finishes for two of the boys’ teams as Harry Jones made an impressive final appearance in the event to come home in seventh and help the under-17s to bronze.
George Barnacle (11th), Alex Friend (14th) and Reece Harriott (50th) completed the scorers as Louis Berrett (74th) and Luke Chester (81st) also ran.
The under-15 boys’ hard effort placed them third as Charlie Howell and Alex Ford were 13th and 14th, with Matthew Hick and Shane Hart in 44th and 45th. Daniel Edwards (56th) and Lewis Edwards (84th) also ran.
With most of the under-13 boys making their first appearance in the event, 11th place was a respectable finish for the team of Ryan Carroll (23rd), Toby Johnson (45th), Nathan Hart (48th) and Oliver Taylor Bush (82nd). Charlie Burgess (111th) and Thomas Peacock (114th) also ran.
The under-17 girls, were similarly placed in 11th and their scoring four was made up of Emily Dixon (38th), Molly Sweetman (54th), Amy Kilner (87th) and Rosie Brown (88th), as Katie Rafferty (115th) Jessica James (116th) also ran.
*Havering youngsters are due for another busy weekend of action across the country.
The British Universities Championships (BUCS) are being held in Bedford across the three-day Bank Holiday weekend, while the second round of the Eastern Young Athletes League season for under-13s to under-17s takes place at St Albans on Saturday.
The first round of the Youth Development League season, for upper age athletes in under-17 and under-20 categories, takes place at Reading on Sunday.
Comments: Our rules
We want our comments to be a lively and valuable part of our community - a place where readers can debate and engage with the most important local issues. The ability to comment on our stories is a privilege, not a right, however, and that privilege may be withdrawn if it is abused or misused.
Please report any comments that break our rules.
Read the rules here