The TCS Mini-Marathon on Saturday 26th April held a fantastic competition for the fastest road runners in the UK, of which eight Tiffin students proudly represented their boroughs.
A fantastic day for a race, not too warm, but a nice mild temperature in the heart of London at the Horse Guards’ Parade opposite Trafalgar Square, and the crowds began to multiply as the countdown to the races diminished.
In the U13 boys race, Anas B and Fredric B represented team Wandsworth and both had an excellent race. Coupled with some impressive parkrun times and successful training schemes at the start of the track season, Fredric placed 79th with a time of 9 minutes 12 seconds and Anas came in at 62nd out of 236 competitors with 9 minutes 03 seconds! Well done boys, can’t wait to see what the track holds this summer!
For the U17 girls, we had Elena K representing team Kingston Upon Thames, which was a very competitive team to qualify for, but the Tiffin pride and mindset continue to flourish in all our students’ extra and super-curricular events. Especially as Elena is the first female athlete of the run club to qualify in the five years of the combined club. Elena ran a time of 11 minutes 49 seconds and showed great confidence on the same start-line – with the likes of Isla McGowan (English National Athlete) and Ellarose Whitworth (also an English National Athlete) – through the finish line at The Mall after a heavily successful Cross-Country season this winter. Well done, Elena!
For the U17s boys, we had multiple athletes, stringing from the likes of Pancho P, Cathal L and Haruki N, who themselves need no introduction, in addition to newcomers Alexander K and Xavier F! Alexander K sprints short distances for Hercules Wimbledon and “wanted some variation in training” as well as “better endurance”, and so was recruited by Merton team manager Pancho P for the race. Pancho was eagerly looking for pacey talent for his virtuous Merton squad and decided to recruit Xavier F. The fitness from his esteemed footballing career and other sports was taken under notice by Pancho, completing the squad in just enough time before the race.
Cathal L and Haruki N both qualified for the heavily demanded Kingston Upon Thames positions, once again demonstrating Tiffinian prowess. They both had excellent races with Haruki placing 87th in the borough challenge with a fantastic time of 8 minutes 26 seconds and Cathal L almost stealing the show and blowing all of our socks off as he ran a blinding 8 minutes 11 seconds for the 2.6km course and placing 48th in the borough challenge and the 3rd fastest Kingston runner of the day. Well Done, Cathal and Haruki!
Pancho P had been selected to be the Merton team manager for the 2025 TCS Mini-Marathon by Sean McInnes (Merton Mini-Marathon Chief Coach) as he knew he would be the perfect candidate to lead the side. On the day, he briefed all of his Merton athletes and gave them key advice to help with the pressure build-up of the BBC televised event.
Alex K an excellent performance on the day and really tackled his endurance, finishing solidly through the line, and head boy Xavier F also greatly enjoyed the race-day experience although I cannot find their official results on the website. What really matters is that they started on the same starting line as some of the world’s most prospecting youth distance athletes including the likes of Evan Grime (Team GB Athlete and UK U15 Mile World Record Holder) and Jack Marwood (English National Athlete) in addition to the multiple Adidas and other sponsored athletes in the field. I trust that they raced well, however!
Pancho P wanted to race hard considering it was his last Mini-Marathon and made sure to enjoy every single moment. Despite a very tough training block and a specifically difficult week of training prior, he still managed to finish 31st in the borough challenge with a time of 8 minutes 02 seconds, holding the priority wristband to his name and finishing as the fastest in Merton.
As a whole, Tiffin should be greatly proud of their distance athletes for competing in an event of such high calibre, and it goes without saying how thankful we are for the teachers and coaches that nurture such a hard-working, successful and charismatic environment for running. The summer holds an exciting story for every one of our athletes and we hope you too can come along and support them soon!
