Triathlon talent leads the fields in the Virgin Money Giving Mini London Marathon

Many of the stars of the recent cross country season took to the roads of the British capital on Sunday for the Virgin Money Giving Mini London Marathon.

Competing in six age-group races for British Athletics or London Borough race titles, the teenagers were the first athletes to compete on London Marathon day and were following in the footsteps of past Mini Marathon winners such as Mo Farah, Alistair Brownlee and David Weir.

Top of the class of 2015 were Ben Dijkstra and Harriet Knowles-Jones, who won the under-17 men s and women s races down The Mall in chilly and damp conditions.

Dijkstra s victory was narrow as he pipped James Gormley by a second with London Boroughs winner Alex Yee third. But Knowles-Jones, who was denied a trip to the World Cross Country Championships last month due to visa problems, beat Sabrina Sinha by almost half a minute.

“I had a pretty good race overall. I m looking forward to doing triathlon next,” said Dijkstra, who races mainly in running events during the winter but then triathlon in the summer.

Under-17 men

1 Ben Dijkstra (East Mids) 14:00; 2 James Gormley (Yorks & Humberside) 14:01; 3 Alex Yee (London) 14:04

London Boroughs: Yee (Lewisham)

Under-17 women

1 Harriet Knowles-Jones (North West) 16:07; 2 Sabrina Sinha (London) 16:36; 3 Rosie Johnson (North West) 16:41

London Boroughs: Sinha (Greenwich)

Under-15 boys

1 Matthew Merrick (Yorks & Humberside) 15:01; 2 Adam Scott (Scotland) 15:02; 3 Matt Willis (North West) 15:08

London Boroughs: George Groom (Barnet) 15:30

Under-15 girls

1 Katy-Ann McDonald (London) 16:28; 2 Tilly Simpson (Yorks & Humberside) 16:40; 3 Claudia Lance-Jones (South East) 16:53

London Boroughs: McDonald (Wandsworth)

Under-13 boys

1 Tommy Dawson (Yorks & Humberside) 15:42; 2 Alfie Bould (North West) 15:55; 3 Josh Dickinson (Yorks & Humberside) 16:00

London Boroughs: David Stone (Barnet) 16:12

Under-13 girls

1 Ella McNiven (North West) 17:30; 2 Olivia Mason (North West) 17:35; 3 Femke Rosbergen (East) 17:39

London Boroughs: Yasmin Marchini (City of Westminster) 18:07

Wheelchair races

Under-17 men: Nathan Maguire 11:35

Under-17 women: Shelby Watson 15:55

Under-14 boys: Graham Spencer 16:16

Under-14 girls: Kare Adenegan 12:41

More reports and photographs from the Mini London Marathon in the April 30 issue of Athletics Weekly

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