New End who successfully defended their cross-country crown (top), Ezra Baddiel, who won the Year 4 boys’ race, and Scarlet Bureau, who was second in the Year 4 girls’ race (left), Rosary School's golden duo Camille Tani and Molly King, who finished first in their respective Year 5 and Year 6 races (right)

Published: 20 March 2014
by STEVE BARNETT

MORE than 1,600 youngsters soaked up the sunshine on Friday when they took part in this year’s Camden Primary Schools Cross-Country Championships at Parliament Hill Fields.

Organised by the Camden Schools Sports Association, it was a record-breaking turnout as boys and girls from 26 primaries numbered-up and raced for gold.

Teachers, family and friends cheered on the children as they tackled the lung-busting courses – which saw pupils from Years 3 and 4 running roughly 1.1km and speedsters from Years 5 and 6 covering 1.6km.

After eight separate races it was the young athletes from New End Primary School in Hampstead who were cheering the loudest as they won the championships for a second year in a row.

Rosary School in Belsize Park finished as runners-up, while St Aloysius Junior School in Somers Town took third place.

New End’s Ezra Baddiel, who won the Year 4 boys’ race, said: “The atmosphere was amazing. Everyone was happy as it was a sunny day and Parliament Hill is a great choice for the cross-country venue.”

Schoolmate Scarlet Bureau, who came second in the Year 4 girls’ race, added: “I really enjoyed the day and particularly running on the Heath. The hardest part of the run was the uphill bit.”

The winners of the Year 5 races will now go on to represent Team Camden in the London Youth Games in October, where they will be hoping to follow in the footsteps of last year’s successful Under-11s team that finished in an impressive sixth place out of 23 boroughs.

The Cross-Country Championships marked another first-placed finish for the Camden Sport and Physical Activity Team, members from Highgate Harriers Athletics Club, NVQ students and volunteers.

All involved pulled together to make the day a tremendous success.