Highgate Harrier Georgia Fear

Published: 20 March 2014
by STEVE BARNETT

THERE’S no looking back for Highgate Harrier Georgia Fear after she earnt her first international vest on Saturday with a barnstorming display at the English Schools Cross-Country Championships.

Representing London, the 16-year-old (above) clocked a time of 12:48 to finish fifth out of field of 336 runners in the intermediate girls’ race, which was run over 3.5km at Leicestershire’s Donington Park.

The top-eight finish was enough to earn her the right to represent England this Saturday in Bolton, where she will take on the best young athletes from Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales.

“I was confident that I could finish in the top eight, but it was still unexpected,” said Georgia, who goes to South Hampstead High School. “I’ve been really dedicated in training, and all that hard work has paid off. Obviously I’m really excited, hopefully I will make England proud.

“I want to thank my Highgate coaches, Jack Bayliss, Ben Pochee and Ron Cooper, who are really supportive and not pressuring at all. They’re all really nice and take time to put good training programmes together for me. The fact that they’re volunteers just makes them even nicer.

“I also want to thank my Highgate Harrier team-mates. They are really competitive, which makes us all train harder and perform better.”