Teen works hard for his big win

MARK TAYLOR/Waikato Times

PRIDDEY QUICK: Hamilton Boys' High School runner Jacob Priddey trains for his next race after a confidence-building win.

Relevant offers

After claiming his most illustrious running title last month, Jacob Priddey is hopeful he can continue his brilliant form and one day make it to the top.

The Hamilton Boys' High School student produced a great performance to win the year 9 3km race at the New Zealand Secondary Schools Cross Country Championships in Waikanae last month.

It was the 13-year-old's most prestigious win in the sport and he was made to work hard for it, crossing the line just ahead of Marcus Karamanolis from Wellington's St Patrick's College, with both boys clocking nine minutes 29 seconds.

"I was just pretty happy and all my training seemed worth it," Priddey said of his feeling after the race.

He recalled the final stages of the contest as being tense and although he was leading the 200 other competitors, his victory never seemed assured, with Karamanolis hot on his heels.

"There was this hurdle at the top of a hill, it was about 150 metres out and the hill was about 100 metres long. I came down the hill pretty fast and he was about 10-15 metres behind me.

"I was just falling down the hill basically. When I got to the bottom there wasn't really any sign that he was coming, the crowd was just screaming anyway.

"So I was just running pretty fast, and the screaming of the crowd would just get louder and louder so I'd start to go faster and faster and then I could hear him breathing right beside me and I just kept on looking down to see his shadow.

"Just before the line I suddenly saw it, but I realised that I'd already beaten him."

Priddey, who runs all year round with cross country in the winter and track events in the summer, was happy with the time he clocked and will be using it as a gauge for upcoming races.

"I'll just use it as a benchmark for when I get onto the track again."

Priddey started running competitively in year 7 and was inspired by his dad Vaughan, who competed as a youngster in Wellington.

"I'm just a bit faster," Priddey said. "He started pretty old, when he was about 16.

"Because he started so late he hadn't done much training so he was always behind."

Priddey's dad is now his coach and he also helps others from the Hinemoa Athletics and the Hamilton Hawks clubs that his son competes for most Saturdays.

He trains six times a week, focusing on long runs in the winter and encompassing more speed sessions during the track season.

Priddey now has the national club championships in Waikanae in less than a month's time, where he will compete in the Under-14s race and will come up against Pakuranga College's David Lee, who won the junior 4km event at the national secondary school cross country championships.

"I'm just aiming to stay with him and depending on how I feel, I might try and sneak him off at the end," Priddey said of his main rival.

New Zealander Nick Willis is Priddey's idol and the youngster is proud of what the Olympic silver medallist has done for the sport.

"He's shown New Zealand that you don't have to be Kenyan or come from a big country to do well in a worldwide sport."

In the future, Priddey is looking forward to the experience of competing against people from other parts of the world, aiming to make the 2012 ISF Cross Country World Schools Championships and the Youth Olympics two years later.

- © Fairfax NZ News