Sidmouth Running Club member and college student Jason Drew is living life very much in the fast lane, writes Stephen Birley.

The 16-year-old, who lives in Exmouth, and attends Exmouth Community College, has been selected to run at a brace of national cross country championships for Devon.

Drew is on parade this Saturday (March 8) in the UK Inter Counties meeting and the following Saturday he will be on the start line of the English Schools Cross Country Championships.

The teenager has also been selected to run for the South West at the London mini marathon which is a race staged at the London Marathon that involves the top Under-17 runners in the United Kingdom racing over the last three miles of the iconic circuit. Drew is the only youngster from Devon in the SW team.

Drew took up running as recently as January 2013 and he took to it so quickly that before long he was representing Exmouth Community College and the district at cross country events.

He runs for the local club despite living in Exmouth and explains why he is not an Exmouth Harrier saying: “I originally went to join the Exmouth Harriers, but they could not let me run with them at the time as they didn’t have a youth section and so wouldn’t have the insurance to cover me.”

The youngster’s current training regime varies from week to week, but usually involves running around the streets of Exmouth and he can occasionally been seen scaling the cliff path towards Sandy Bay with this type of session generally overseen by his coach, Kirk Samon from Exmouth. He also trains with Sidmouth RC once a fortnight and in the summer can often be found pounding the miles across Woodbury Common.

Drew says: “I also try to use what is left of Exmouth running track down at the rugby club but with this due to be closed I’m not sure what I’m going to do. It’s something we really need in the area, decent running facilities. Hopefully one day something will materialises on that score.”

Drew has ambition in the sport. He hopes to one day represent the GB team at the European cross country championships or to possibly run at the commonwealth games as a marathon runner.

The youngster is looking for sponsorship to help with his development. If anyone can help this young man with his bid to reach the top in the world of running then please do get in touch with him via email at Frodo.drew@gmail.com