BRAT’s Paul Thompson improved his personal best performance for 3,000 metres by nearly ten seconds to 8:21:84.

The 19-year old, coached by the Warwickshire AAA s president Nick Price, finished third in the Aviva Junior 5,000 metres at Bedford. The Birmingham teenager was the only runner brave enough to stay with the Spanish endurance runner Gabriel Navarro who won both the European Junior 5,000 and 10,000 metres titles. However, in extremely hot and humid conditions in the longer of the two races in Estonia, Thompson collapsed to the ground with heat exhaustion whilst in the silver medal position in the closing stages of the race. The teenager won the prestigious Birmingham and District Division One Cross Country League Cross Country over his home course at Cofton Park on 3 December.