KELSO youngster Josh Abbott stepped up at the Edinburgh Running Festival last weekend to win the junior 1.5km in style.
A pupil at Edenside Primary School, Josh, 10, has been a member of the Kelso Athletics Club for two and a half years under the tuition of coach Keith Lyall.
Running alongside more than 200 other young athletes Josh led the race from about 300m and kept the lead throughout. Dad David, mum Linda, sister Rebecca and Granny Marion were all at the finish line, cheering him home, and were are all extremely proud of his achievement.
Josh’s first race was the Great North Run two years ago where he came fifth out of around 300 children. He was extremely nervous, but after he finished the race he caught the running bug and did it again last year when he came fourth in the 10 & under age group.
He competed last year in the Borders Games circuit for the first time, as they lowered the age limit to nine, and won the 100m at Earlston Games and the 800m at Morebattle Games, which, along with other minor placings, gave him third overall in the Borders Games League table.
Josh was also third overall in the Borders XC series 2011/12, which he was delighted with and which he thoroughly enjoyed. He won the boys’ primary six schools title in the first Primary School Cross-country in the Borders, held at Netherdale earlier this year.
In the last two weeks he has competed at the Muckle Toon Run in Langholm, where he was second overall and first primary boy home and he also ran at the Burnmouth Brae Sprints – second overall in a 16-and-under one-mile race and first home in the under-14 Brae Uphill Sprint. He came second in the Winter Run in Edinburgh earlier this year in January.
Josh has also been picked this year to run for the Team Borders in the JSB Forth Valley League second division, where he has done very well winning all his races so far.
A keen footballer, Josh also plays for Kelso Junior Football Club Under-11s which he really enjoys as well. He normally plays defence, but his running has helped him with speed on the pitch and since making the move up front he has scored quite a few goals for the team.