Athletes who ran for Islington included Isaac Silverstone, Lettice Gundry, Amba Coleman and Phoebe Music, with team helper Brayden Steenhoff

SOME of the quickest runners in the capital are gearing up for one of their favourite race days in the calendar as they prepare to whizz around Westminster.

Thousands of athletes aged between 11 and 17 years old will represent their respective boroughs in the TCS Mini London Marathon, which takes place on April 26.

The speedsters will tackle the iconic 2.6km course, starting at Horse Guards Parade before sprinting towards the finish line at The Mall. There will also be a one-mile route for children in Reception to Year 7.

Alex Rankin claimed second place

Preparations for the marathon ramped up on Sunday when around 180 youngsters flocked to the Finsbury Park track to compete in the annual Inter-Borough Junior Road Race Challenge.

Hosted once again by London Heathside Running and Athletics Club, Camden dominated the Under-13s, Under-15s and Under-17s age categories, which were staged over 3,000m. They struck gold in five of the six races on their way to being crowned Inter-Borough Challenge champions.

Frank Bailey

Team Islington also enjoyed lots of success, including Alex Rankin taking second place in the boys’ Under-13s race with a time of 11 minutes, 36 seconds – finishing 50 seconds behind Camden’s race winner Alex Pettican (10:46).

Islington also narrowly missed out on first place in the boys’ Under-15s race, where Rory Willis (10:11) crossed the finish line just seven seconds behind winner Arjuna Pflug (10:04) from Camden.

Frank Bailey added to the borough’s medal count in the men’s Under-17s race after clocking a time of 10:09 to take third place and a well-earned bronze.

Kiara Corkin

In the girls’ races, Carys Tomlinson (12:37) and Kiara Corkin (11:53) both scooped silver medals in their respective Under-13s and Under-17s races.

Praising the squad for their efforts, Islington’s team manager, Mikael Kiviniemi, said: “The Inter-Borough Challenge is always a fantastic event. It was great to see 17 runners from Islington take part and perform so well.

“The young athletes are now setting their sights on the Mini London Marathon, a 2.6K race against some of the very best runners in the country.”

Carys Tomlinson

Heathsider Russell Weston, who has been organising the Inter-Borough Junior Road Race Challenge for more than 20 years, added: “It was a really great day. I enjoy it because all of the kids enjoy it, that’s the main thing.

“There was a real buzz in the air, and you have lots of kids together taking part in athletics – what’s not to love?”