Highgate U17 Lauren Russell (right in the picture) capped off a sensational cross country season with a hard fought bronze medal in the Senior Girls race at the prestigious English Schools Cross Country Championships at Wollaton Park, Nottingham.
In a race won by precocious junior talent Innes Fitzgerald, Lauren completed the podium, finishing only 9 seconds behind GB athlete Rebecca Flaherty who competed at the World Cross Country Championships in Australia in February.
With a lesson in perfect pacing we could all learn from, Lauren moved steadily through the field from the top-20 into the top-10, closing in on the chasing group with around a kilometre to go. Fitzgerald was too far in front to worry about but Lauren went toe to toe with girls a year older. With a hard kick up the final hill, Lauren moved into third place for the first time, running strongly down the hill into the finish with her team mates cheering her home.
To go from 126th in 2022 to 3rd a year later in an event where the likes of Jo Pavey, Jess Judd and Paula Radcliffe have stood on the podium is an achievement to be proud of.
Lauren’s cross-country campaign kicked off in earnest in November with a convincing gold medal at the London Youth Games Cross Country on home turf at Parliament Hill, swiftly followed by victory at Middlesex Schools and the Middlesex Cross Country champs in its Centenary year and backed up by a winning streak in the Metropolitan Cross Country League. But this was just the warm up.
An illness in January meant she only came 9th at the South of England Cross-Country. This was swiftly remedied. In the space of three weeks, Lauren placed 5th at the National, 4th at the Inter-Counties and crowned these achievements with bronze at English Schools.
Lauren’s achievements are testament to her hard work and impressive attitude, made that bit easier by the competition and support of her training partners who push her in training and inspire each other with their own athletic feats.