By, Brian Sacks
1 min read
ByBrian Sacks, Brian Sacks
Cross Country
Richard Goodman gained the country's most prestigious trophy for his age group when he won the under 17 National Cross Country title in Leeds.
The Maccabiah double gold medallist was always in control at the front and pulled steadily away from his main rival Tom Curr in the second half of the 6,000m race to finish 200m clear.
This was Goodman's third entry into the championships, having come fifth in the Under 15 race two years ago and finishing runner-up at Under 17 last year.
Goodman said: "The course was boggy in a few places, and Shaftesbury lost the chance of a team victory when one of our runners lost a shoe in the mud. But it was definitely the best course I have ever run on.
There were two massive hills on each lap, and one in particular was the steepest and toughest I have ever come across – it was like hitting a brick wall. For the first half of the race Tom Curr was keeping with me, but I could tell from his breathing that he was working harder than I was. I tested him with little surges and could see that he was running at his limit. After the second lap I decided to push harder and quickly opened a gap. The end of the race was a long straight and I kept looking around in case I was being caught, and then just enjoyed the final 30 metres."
Next weekend Goodman steps up to the Under 20 age group in the Inter-counties championships at Birmingham, which are also serving as the trials race for the World Cross Country Championships in Poland at the end of the month.