The English Schools’ National Cross Country Championships is the most eagerly anticipated event of the winter for young athletes.
And the 57th Boys’ and 49th Girls’ New Balance English Schools’ Cross Country Championship takes place in Norwich on Saturday.
The leading athletes in each of the 45 counties compete for individual and team honours at the Norfolk County Showground.
Entry to the event is through athletes being provisionally selected by team managers following the county championships which are held in January.
Teams are then selected for the Inter County match in February and this is used as the final selection race.
Teams comprise a maximum of 12 athletes, of which only eight are allowed to compete.
The first six finishers in each team count towards the team competition. Finishing positions are added up, and the team with the lowest score wins.
If teams are tied, the team with the highest sixth finisher takes precedence......