Top Suffolk athlete John (Jack) Millar celebrated his first appearance in an England senior vest, by taking two Maths exams!
An in-form Millar, of Ipswich Harriers, relished his first international senior outing at the IAAF Cross Country Permit meeting in Elgoibar, Spain, last weekend.
The 21-year-old posted an impressive 14th position, in a time of 34mins 08secs over a 10.8K course, finishing just two places and 10 seconds behind England’s top finisher, Mahamed Mahamed, and ahead of England team-mates Adam Hickey (24th) and Corey De’Ath (31st).
The event was dominated by a clutch of impressive African athletes, led home by Kenya’s Rhonex Kipruto in 32:05.
After his fine run, in Spain, Millar was quickly brought down to earth by a busy schedule – he returned to Bath University, where he is a third year maths student, on Sunday evening to prepare for two exams the following day.
“I really enjoyed the whole experience,” enthused Millar.
“It was fantastic fun, and the whole town really seemed to get behind the event. There were big crowds along the route, and they didn’t seem to have just turned up to watch a load of Spaniards run.
“Instead, they were every supportive of all of us athletes. They called out my name and cheered me many times, which was weird, but we did all have our names on our running vests.
“It was great to be in the same field as some really fine athletes, especially some of the Africans.
“And it was nice to see where I am at, and gauge how I am doing. It’s a good sign, and I will keep plodding along and training hard.
“The whole weekend was a great experience. Half the squad met up at Stansted, and the other half at Manchester airport. We arrived (in Spain) on Friday night, took a look around the course on Saturday, and ran the race on Sunday. We then flew home on Sunday night and I had two exams the next day!” added Millar, who is coached by Stephen Hicks at Ipswich Harriers.
Millar, who turned 21 last month and hails from Helmingham, near Otley, has been invited to run for England seniors in another race on the continent, in Belgium on February 10.
Last month, he finished 28th in the under-23s race at the European Cross Country Championships in Tilburg, Netherlands, where he won a silver team medal as part of the Great Britain squad. He won the Suffolk Championships at Culford earlier this month.
Comments: Our rules
We want our comments to be a lively and valuable part of our community - a place where readers can debate and engage with the most important local issues. The ability to comment on our stories is a privilege, not a right, however, and that privilege may be withdrawn if it is abused or misused.
Please report any comments that break our rules.
Read the rules here