When Paula Radcliffe was 12, she wasn’t the best 12-year-old in her club; Steph Twell at 13 couldn’t make her club’s A relay team. Young runners mature and progress at different rates, and running repays those who train hard over a period of time without being put off by setbacks.
Some achieve success very young, whilst others progress year by year and often achieve greater success when they are older.

Winning is very enjoyable and should be celebrated, but the most important aspects for young runners are enjoyment of running and competing, having fun,
making friends and enjoying being part of a club. When juniors have a good run they
should enjoy the excitement and the joy that this brings. When they do not do as well
as they had hoped, they should not worry about it and simply look forward to the next race.

Virtually every week throughout the year there is a race that a junior could run in; it is very easy for a young runner to over-race, get burnt out and perhaps get injured. It is important to think about which races or championships are important to the runner and have short, medium and long-term goals. Some of these may be achieved ahead of plan and others may not be reached at all; it is the lessons learnt and the fun that is had along the way that is important. If winning is the most important thing, then when that young person goes through a period when they are not winning then they are more likely to give up. For a young runner no race is so important that it can’t be missed or that a bad run is worth getting upset about.

Nevertheless, it is great of course that at Helm Hill we have many runners who do well at a variety of levels! We have Cumbria, Bofra and FRA champions amongst our present and past (and, no doubt, future) Junior runners.

The BOFRA series of races are similar in length, difficulty and standard of running as the Helm Hill Winter League. Racing is taken seriously, but the races generally have a very
friendly atmosphere, with many of our runners taking part. There are 15 races in the series with a runner’s best 8 results to count in the championship. Junior runners can participate in

any of the races. To count in the series, you have to be a member of BOFRA . Age categories are U10, U12, U14, U16 according to the date of the first race. Details of the races and membership are on www.bofra.org.uk . The first race is usually Sedbergh Gala in mid- May, which generally sees a good turn out of Helm runners. Just beware that not quite all the BOFRA races have an U10s category; sometimes U12s is the youngest category.
The FRA junior championship is made up of six races, four to count in the championship.

From October onwards, the Cumbria and Mid-Lancs Cross Country leagues start as well as various cross-country events through primary and secondary schools. Cross country running helps to develop speed and strength. Many of our runners go on to represent Cumbria at County level through qualifying in races as part of the running club system, or through the school system.

Many of the above types of races are included in the Helm Hill club championship. So, lace up your running shoes and get out there to enjoy your racing, and enjoy representing the club. It’s always great to see a Helm vest on the fells.