Young runners from the East End were on top form for the London Mini Marathon on Sunday, completing the final three miles leading up to Buckingham Palace.
This year’s race was started by athlete Phillips Idowu, the current world champion and gold medallist triple jumper who was himself brought up in East London.
The former Raine’s Foundation school pupil gave a pep talk to the 42 youngsters aged 11 to 17 from Tower Hamlets schools before the race where they faced stiff opposition from 1,500 competitors across London.
Fastest Tower Hamlets runner was Billy Hutton, from Raine’s Foundation, who came ninth in the boys’ under 15s in 16mins 44secs. Fastest girl was Zahra Attibbi, from Morpeth School, who was second in the under 13s group in 18mins 41secs.
The youngsters have been pacing themselves in training sessions over the past few weeks organised by Victoria Park Athletics club at Mile End Stadium.
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