The thirty-sixth English Junior Men's National Cross-Country Championships took place on Stopsley Common, Luton with hundreds of clubs taking part and the race again sponsored by Provincial Insurance Company Limited. The two-lap course of fast parkland was estimated to be short of the published six miles.
One mile into the race Jon Richards (Duchy of Cornwall AC) and Northern champion Mike Chorlton (Stainforth & District AC) began to move away from the field. Chorlton couldn't match Richard's pace as he began to stretch the field. As they started the second lap Richards was 60 metres clear with Chorlton second and the previous year's winner Mark Vile (Westbury Harriers) third. Richards won by 200 metres with Lloyd Tredell (Coventry Godiva Harriers) second and Mark Flint (Telford AC) third.
Jon Richards told Barry Smyth at Athletics Weekly that he held back early on because of the flatness of the Luton course and added "This time I felt more pressure than the other races. A lot of people were coming up before saying how much do you think you are going to win it by?"
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