Sidmouth Running Club’s Toby Garrick competed at the British Inter-Counties Cross Country Championships held in Loughborough on the second Saturday of March.

It was a very windy day and on a very open course. Toby had to leave his East Devon home by 6am to be on the start line and so it wasn’t just physical fatigue that he had to fight!

However, with some true grit and no small measure of determination, he managed an average of 5.45 minutes-per-mile over what was a 9km route that had plenty of thick mud and hills.

He came 58th in a very tough field of runners and was the first Devon runner by over 70 places. He was running as an U20, so was nearly the youngest in his category. Next weekend he is racing in Leeds in what will be his last ever English Schools Championship – so, it goes without saying, good luck to Toby from all at SRC.

At the recent SRC Awards Night, Toby was presented with the Chris Long Trophy in honour of him being the Male Runner of the Year.

Toby would like to thank all those that have helped and encouraged him through the year and feels honoured to have been chosen. He has had a very good season.