Today I ran in the London Youth Games, which takes place at Parliament Hill on Hampstead Heath in London. I wasn’t feeling very excited about this race because there are usually nearly 300 boys competing, all from the 32 boroughs of London. On top of that, the race begins with a very steep hill, which makes the start extremely tough. Even though cross country isn’t my favourite compared to track season, I still wanted to try my absolute best and see what I could do.
When the race started, I didn’t get a very good start. I settled into around 15th place, and I knew that wasn’t where I wanted to be. I tried to speed up, but the problem was the huge amount of traffic. There were so many boys all bunched together that I couldn’t run my normal fast pace. Every time I tried to move to the side to overtake, someone blocked the space. With almost 300 boys running at once, there was pushing, barging, and lots of elbows, which made it even harder to move through the pack.
As the race continued, I managed to find some gaps and overtake a few runners. Slowly, I worked my way up to 12th place. I kept pushing as hard as I could, but I had already used up a lot of energy trying to get past people early on. The race was only 1.5 km, and by the time I finally had space to run properly, it was almost too late. I could see the group in front of me getting closer, and I knew I needed more distance to catch them. Longer races suit me much better because that’s where my stamina really kicks in.
When I crossed the finish line in 12th place, I immediately looked ahead and realised something. The boys who finished from 5th place all the way up to where I was seemed only a few seconds apart. From my own guess, I think there was maybe just five seconds between me and the boys as far up as 5th. That made me feel a bit frustrated because I knew that if I had got a cleaner start and hadn’t been stuck behind slow runners, I could have finished much higher.
This is the challenge with a massive race like the London Youth Games. The field is huge, and the starting line is incredibly narrow. Almost 300 boys were trying to squeeze into a space that simply wasn’t big enough for everyone. The start felt completely chaotic, and it was nearly impossible to position myself properly before the whistle. But that’s part of the experience with such a big event, and now I know what to expect next time.
Even though this race wasn’t my favourite type and I didn’t run the time or position I know I’m capable of, I’m still proud of myself. I fought hard, I didn’t give up, and I finished 12th in a huge field of talented runners. I know that next year the distance is much longer, which is perfect for me because I’m much stronger in longer races. I’m excited to come back, run smarter, and hopefully get a much better result when the race suits my strengths.
