The sixty-fifth Youth's English National Cross-Country Championships were held at Roundhay Park in Leeds. The course had not been used for 12 years after repairs were required to the Victorian drainage system.
At halfway stage Richard Goodman (Shaftesbury Barnet Harriers) and Tom Curr (Stroud & District AC) were locked in a battle for the individual title. In the second half of the race Curr began to suffer and Goodman moved clear and strode on to victory. Curr was almost caught on the finish line but held on for silver with Robbie Farnham-Rose (Tonbridge AC) taking bronze.
Goodman told Athletics Weekly: "I was extremely nervous, but I asked myself before the race: do you want to be on that train back to London without the gold medal? Ninety-five per cent of my running career is down to Geoff Williams [his coach]. He's kept me in the sport and his sessions are awesome. He's forever setting me to work on the dreaded hills, but it keeps paying off, and did again today."
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