Herne Hill Harriers’ Saskia Millard made a staggering breakthrough on Saturday, as the 13-year-old became the all-time fastest under-15 girl in Surrey over 800m.
Millard ran 2:08.21 in a mixed-gender race at the London Inter Club Challenge at Barnet Copthall, having never previously breached 2:12. The time not only makes Millard the quickest under-15 girl in Surrey athletics history, it was also the third fastest by a 13-year-old in the UK.
The time was inevitably a Harriers age-category club record and saw her rise to third in the all-time list of first claim Herne Hill runners – a list headed by 20-year-old Katie Snowden’s 2:03.46. Millard’s time is all the more remarkable as her previous best was 2:12.9, set in a UK Youth Development League fixture at Reading in May.
Meanwhile, Snowden, who Millard may one day hope to emulate, had a frustrating day at the weekend’s British Championships in Birmingham. Snowden ran well in her 800m heat, clocking 2:04.50, but was never able to quite get on terms with the three ahead of her: internationals Alison Leonard, Jessica Judd and Emily Dudgeon, and her fourth place time was not fast enough to qualify for the final…