Capital effort by Thomas

Thomas Francis, from Bridgham, ran in the Adidas London Mini Marathon on Sunday.On a gloriously sunny day the 16-year-old travelled to London, having been selected to represent Norfolk as part of the England East Region team.

Thomas Francis, from Bridgham, ran in the Adidas London Mini Marathon on Sunday.

On a gloriously sunny day the 16-year-old travelled to London, having been selected to represent Norfolk as part of the England East Region team.

Thomas, who runs for City of Norwich AC, was competing in the 15-17 race over a 6k course which started at Old Billingsgate in the City of London, made its way along the Embankment and across Parliament Square, past Buckingham Palace to finish on The Mall.

In a race with 400-plus runners from UK regional teams and all 33 London boroughs, Thomas finished in a creditable 62nd place in a time of 16:50, with the East team taking third place in the regional competition.

Thomas said: “I was a little disappointed with my time because I know I can run faster than that, but I was doing my warm-up and ended up getting stuck at the back at the start.

“But the occasion and the atmosphere made up for everything. It was fantastic, the crowds of spectators were brilliant - and there's always next year.

“I'm just going to concentrate on my track season now and hopefully get a qualifying time for English Schools in 800m and 1500m,” he added.