An Oldhamer runner has smashed a decade-long record, running faster than Mo Farah did at his age.
Evan Grime, 14, from Royton, smashed the under-15 record in a 1500m race at the Leeds British Milers Club.
In a post on Facebook, Evan's school, The Blue Coat School, said: “Congratulations to Year 9 student Evan who broke a 10-year record at The Leeds British Milers Club Meeting this weekend by running 1500m in 3:54.36, that's faster than Mo Farah ran at that age! #proudtobeblue”
According to running record website Power of 10, run by British Athletics, the previous record was sent by Ben Greenwood in June 2013, with a time of 3:59.20.
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This means Evan, who runs for the Salford Harriers and Trafford Athletic Club, has beaten the previous record by nearly five whole seconds.
Duncan Mason, head coach at Salford Harriers Juniors, said: “Everyone at the club are very proud of Evan’s achievements which are fully deserved from all the commitment and hard work he puts into his training and preparation.
“We are excited to see how he progresses in the future.”
According to the same website, Mo Farah’s top time for the 1500m when he was aged 14 in 1997 was 4:06.41.
Aged 15, Farah was faster – but still slower than Evan, setting a top 1500m time of 3:57.67.
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It wasn’t until aged 17 that Farah beat Evan’s time, setting a 1500m time of 3:49.60 at the AAA U20 Championships in August 2000.
However, Evan still has a way to go to beat Farah’s top 1500m time, with a time of 3:28.81 set in July 2013, at the IAAF Diamond League Herculis in Monaco.
While Evan did come fifth out of 11 in the 1500m race, he was the youngest competitor in the ‘A’ race – an important race training is focused on – coming behind four U23 athletes and ahead of U23, U20, and Senior athletes.
Last month, Evan came first at the London Mini Marathon.
The event saw under-18 runners from across the country take on the last 2.6km of the London Marathon the day before the main race.
Coached by his dad Ian Grime, both of Evan’s parents have hopes he will one day compete in the Olympics.
Speaking after Evan’s win at the SIAB Cross Country junior boys race in March, Evan’s dad said: “I’m very proud of him, I coach him as well.
“I work with a set of coaches, and I’m very, very proud of him. I used to run myself, I competed in 1,500 metres and 3,000/5,000 metres.
“Hopefully Evan will be a bit better than I was, but he still doesn’t run as quick as me.”
Evan’s sister Erin also ran for Salford Harriers and Trafford Athletic Club and is currently studying at Loughborough University.
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