Today I ran at St Martins School in the St Martins relay race. I was really excited because I have great memories from last year. In the under 11s race, my school team won, and I was so proud of that moment. This year I wanted to win again. I also wanted to beat my personal best from last year and try to be the fastest boy there.

In this relay race, each team has four boys. Each boy runs about 1.8 kilometres. When one boy finishes, he tags the next boy, and the race continues until all four boys have run. The team with the fastest total time wins. The race starts with about 200 metres on grass, then goes onto the road for just over one kilometre, and finishes with another 200 metres on grass. I chose to wear my Nike Vaporfly trainers. I hoped they would be okay on the slippery grass and very fast on the road.

Today I ran at St John School cross-country event. The race was meant to be 2.7 km, and I knew it would be tough because the course included many hills. It was 2½ laps in total, and my teacher had warned me that there was a lot of uphill running, so I knew it would be a challenging course.

Since Christmas, I haven’t been running at my best because I was severely ill. Although I’ve been training hard, my races in January were disappointing as I was still far from peak fitness. However, I’ve been feeling stronger recently and was excited to see what level I could perform at today.

Today I ran in the HSAA (Herts Schools) Cross Country Championships at St Margaret’s School in Bushey. I won this race last year in Year 5, so I know what it takes — but this time felt very different.

I wasn’t looking forward to the race because I’m still not back to full fitness after being severely ill over Christmas. Although I feel stronger each week, I know I’m still at least two or three weeks away from peak condition. I really wish this race had been later in February to give me a better chance, but since it was at the end of January, my goal was simple: try my best and aim for a top 12 finish to qualify for Nationals.

Today I ran at the Beechwood School cross-country event. The race was meant to be 1.8 km around the school grounds. I’ve been struggling recently, and after a disappointing run at York House last week, I really wanted to perform better today.

My training times are still much slower than they were before Christmas, so I know I’m still several weeks away from my best fitness. Even so, I was determined to push myself as hard as I could.