Teenage marathon runner back on track with win

Marathon Runner David Stone returned from a 14 month lay-off – of which half the time he spent in a wheelchair – when he took part in the London mini-marathon trials for Barnet.

Finishing the 5k run in a time of 18.30 – making him the top U13 athlete, he followed that up by running – and winning – a charity race at Clapham Common, finishing the same distance in a time of 18.06, 53 seconds ahead of the runner-up.

Now training with the Shaftesbury Barnet 13-15 age group, David was most recently in action on Sunday when he took part in the Windsor, Slogh and Eton 5K series at Domay Park, which saw him win the 5k race in a time of 18:12, finishing 86 seconds ahead of his nearest challenger.

The 13-year-old will also be running the Virgin London mini marathon, as one of nine runners who will be raising money for Emunah.

He said: “Someone at the club said ‘there’s a race coming up’ and they encouraged me to do it. I did a qualifying race at Oak Hill Park and now I’m looking forward to the mini marathon although the others will be much bigger than me!”