ONE thousand young athletes donned their running shoes at a border school and took part in the Midlands Independent Schools Association Cross Country Championships.

Bedstone College hosted the prestigious competition with more than 30 schools competing from across the region.

Students competed in age based categories, those under 10 years old ran a 1,500-metre race, distances increased for older competitors, with senior boys running the longest distance of 6,000 metres.

Bedstone College student Agnes Ayres came first in the under-nine girls race while Sam Wadsworth came first in the boys under-11 race.

The event is a prelude to the National competition at Rugby School where the top 10 runners from each region will compete.

All competitors ran on both hard and soft terrains, making the course a great learning and strengthening experience for any future athletes.

They all gained experience running in woods, fields and through stream crossings.

Jamie Simpson, Head of Boy’s PE at Bedstone College said: “It was the best event we have had for this competition in terms of weather, times and performance. Juniors had over 100 competitors in each race, it was fantastic to see top performances from Bedstone Juniors Sam and Agnes.

"Schools from across the Midlands competed in this fantastic event and all the young athletes can be very proud of themselves for navigating a tough race on a challenging course.

"Bedstone has fantastic grounds for any budding runner or athlete."