England U20 successes at Race for Victory 5k in Cardiff

England Athletics sent an U20 development team of 4 men and 5 women to compete in the Race for Victory 5k, held in the Cardiff suburb of Whitchurch under near-perfect conditions.

The race began following an impressive display of fireballs, a singing act and the roaring departure of supercars.

In the elite men’s race, a leading pack of seven athletes quickly established themselves,  with Herbie Johnson (Luton AC, Gordon Addison) running comfortably among them. The remaining English athletes formed part of the second pack, around 20 runners back. The leading few women were not far behind, and the English women were right in the mix with Katie Pye (Aldershot, Farnham and District, Mick Woods) leading the way for the England contingent.

The challenging hill at the  3k mark tested many in the field, , but the England Team were prepared for this and maintained good pace up the incline and were able to drive off the top.

Approaching 4k, the field had stretched out, but the front pack were still close together; the England men’s team were holding strong. Not far behind, the leading women were just stretching away with the England women right on their tails.  Everyone was able to keep it going through the final kilometre, finishing strongly.

In a great display of talent, the England U20 team achieved remarkable success, securing individual wins for Herbie Johnson and Katie Pye respectively and team wins for both the men and women. Thanks also to team managers Richard Pickering and James Bailey.

Results

U20 Men (overall placings)

• 4th - Herbie Johnson (Luton AC, Gordon Addison): 14.23
• 11th - Seb Beedell (Peterborough and Nene Valley): 14.38
• 21st - Thomas Preston (Peterborough and Nene Valley, Paul Larkins): 14.47
• 30th - Thomas Webb (Wells City Harriers, Jodie Swallow): 14.58

U20 Women (overall placings)

• 5th - Katie Pye (Aldershot, Farnham and District, Mick Woods): 16.21
• 8th - Hannah Clark (Aldershot, Farnham and District, Mick Woods): 16.41
• 10th - Emelia Platt (Salford Harriers): 16.43
• 16th - Jenny Leggate (Cambridge and Coleridge, Richard Park): 16.57
• 25th - Paige Quinn (Exeter Harriers, Gavin Pavey): 17.39

Note: U20 positions hard to clarify due to athletes over 20 but still qualifying for U20 not being listed in category.