Chiltern Harriers' young middle distance runners had a good workout at Woodside Stadium on Wednesday evening in preparation for the County Track and Field Championships on May 10th.
Under 13 Michael Goddard again put in an excellent performance - this time with 2.16.88 in the 800 metres (his first 800m of the season) to put him at the top of the national rankings for his age group and take three seconds off his PB.
The previous day saw Michael set a new record in a Herts Schools League race, also at Woodside Stadium, in the 1500 metres of 4.35.4 in the U14 boys race - this breaking a record of twenty years standing, setting a new PB by seven seconds, and also being the best time in the UK so far this year for an Under 13 boy.
At an early point in the season, Michael has set impressive middle distance standards for the other UK under 13 boys to follow.
Also performing well at the Watford Open meeting in the 800m was U17 Jenny Hayward, coming home in 2.42.25.
In the 1500 metres there were many encouraging performances from young athletes relatively new to track and field. Chiltern's promising first year Under 13 boys gained good experience - Joe Cochrane ran an encouraging 5.12.34 with Andrew Stenning in 5.14.50 and James McCarthy in 5.15.81, and in his first track race, Josh Simpson finished in 6.10.10.
On the U13 girls side, newcomer to track racing Connie Lewis came home in 5.35.90 closely followed by fellow first year Claudia McInerney in 5.46.50.
Under 15 George Gillingwater continued to impress on the track with 5.05.18 and Under 17s Dan Loach and Alan Stewart put in good runs of 4.33.95 and 4.27.83 respectively. Senior man Tom Beedell showed excellent form in recording 8.49.39, finishing fifth in a high-class 3000 metres.
Steve Perkin