Stratford trio to represent West Midlands at London Mini Marathon
THREE Stratford AC athletes have been selected to represent the West Midlands at the London Mini Marathon later this year after impressing at trials held at Stourport Sports Club.
On the same day as the London Marathon, a mini marathon is held over the last three miles of the gruelling course and each region of the country sends a team of six boys and girls to compete in the U13, U15 and U17 age groups.
The trials for the West Midlands team were held on Saturday over the undulating three-mile course and the trio of Stratford athletes knew the first five in each race were guaranteed a place in the regional team.
In the first race of the day for the U13s, the boys and girls set off together, with Alex Adams moving straight to the front alongside Birchfield’s Finan Robins.
Adams always controlled the race and moved clear after the first mile.
He then extended his lead continuously to eventually finish in 17:08, winning by a margin of 26 seconds.
The other U13 from Stratford was Maddie Linfoot, who was making her debut at this distance.
She ran a mature race to finish fourth in a time of 20:02 to confirm her place in London.
In the final race for the U17s, Georgie Campbell was looking to secure her place in the West Midlands team for a third year.
A group of four girls quickly moved away from the field and set the tempo, with Campbell climbing through the order with a strong display to win the race in a time of 17:03, 26 seconds clear of second-placed Jess Humphreys.