By Owen Morgan
Cardiff’s Jake Heyward took a top class cross country under-20 event and literally turned it into a stroll in the park in his home city on Saturday afternoon.
The James Thie coached athlete, who enjoyed a phenomenal season on the track during the summer, looks set to continue his sizzling form through to the cross country season.
At the Cardiff Cross Challenge in Llandaff Fields, Heyward broke away from the field on the second lap of the 6.4km course to open up a huge lead in the under-20 race.
Heyward had the finishing straight all to himself and started celebrating 50 metres from the tape before walking across the line in a winning time of 19:56.
The second placed athlete, Morpeth’s Rory Leonard finished more than 30 seconds adrift, while Menai Track and Field’s Oliver Barberesi, finished just behind in 20:34, beating Swansea Harrier Elliott Lawrence in a sprint finish.
Asked afterwards how he felt the race had gone, Heyward who finished fourth in the World Junior Athletics Championships 1500m final, said: “It was comfortable. James (Thie) said to me before, just race smart.
“I’m renowned for finishing fast, but the pace felt really easy. I also knew it was very windy, so I knew that if I got away and I got a gap, the person following me was obviously going to be chasing the wind as well.”
Heyward said he had wanted a good work out before the European Cross Country trials being held in Liverpool next month.
“I made it a bit more honest on the second lap because I need to get some practice ahead of Liverpool because that’s what everything is going towards before the European Cross Country, so there’s no point jogging all the time.
“Obviously it’s nice to start with a win, that was the main goal. I haven’t eased down for it, I’ve just trained through. In the back of your mind you’re thinking ‘are my legs too heavy’, but I was always confident in myself that I could pull it off today.
“I’m really looking forward to Liverpool. I made the European Cross Country team last year on a really muddy course, so it shows that I can run on the mud, although I obviously prefer the firmer grounds.”
During the 24-hours before Saturday’s race it had looked like the field would have to contend with another muddy course in Cardiff as Storm Callum blew into South Wales bringing torrential rain.
Heyward said: “I had to walk the course on Monday for British Athletics. I thought “this is awesome, it’s almost like a cricket type ground”.
“And then, obviously Storm Callum came in the last couple of days and I sat at home remembering the last cross country race I did in Loughborough last year and that was an absolute mudbath.
“So it was in back of my mind thinking that was super-hard, but it turned out ok and it was actually really nice weather.”
Heyward says he has a particular reason for qualifying for this year’s SPAR European Cross Country Championships, which will be held in Tilburg in the Netherlands on December 9.
“The European Cross Country is the main goal,” said the 19-year-old. “I feel I have a bit of unfinished business there just because last year I got ill before I went, so my performance didn’t really reflect the shape I was in. It’s my last year as a junior, so I hope to make it count.”
Reflecting form on the track during 2018, which saw him set new PBs at 800, 1500 and 3,000m he added: “It was a good step forward.
“You know running 3:36 was great and it just shows the kind of fitness I was in, but times aren’t really something that I focus myself on.
“Championships are what I have always aimed for, so from that perspective I was a little bit disappointed I didn’t medal at the World Juniors.
“But at the same time I’ve got to take a step back and realise that those guys are world indoor champion and European senior champion, competing on the proper Diamond League circuit, so it also gives me confidence that next year, going forward, I can really mix it with those top guys.”