Perse runner heads the field in national rankings
Isaac Rothwell (Upper Sixth) hopes to stay in the fast lane in 2023 after a successful campaign on the athletics track.
He ended the season ranked No 1 in the country in his year group (U18) and eighth overall in the U20 category for men’s 1,500m after posting a personal best time of 3min 47.85sec in the British Milers’ Club (BMC) Gold Standard meeting at Trafford in August.
Representing Cambridge & Coleridge, Isaac finished fourth in that race, which featured a number of senior level athletes.
He also set a personal best of 1min 52.92sec in the men’s 800m at the BMC Grand Prix in Loughborough, as well as coming fourth in the men’s U20 category at the English Schools Championships in Manchester.
Isaac was extremely satisfied with how the season had panned out having had his preparations hampered by illness.
He said: “In the winter, I got a chest infection and it skewed all my plans, so I did what I could. I did one race in April and it didn’t go very well. My chest still wasn’t great, so I took another four or five weeks off.
“I did a couple of jogs to test it out before coming back, but I probably still wasn’t 100% in the summer, although I wasn’t too far off it.
“Eventually, I was able to get fit and I’m very pleased with how the season went. I think going into it I might have wanted a little bit more, but I can’t really be disappointed going from the way things were.
“Being No 1 in the country for 1,500m for what was the Lower Sixth age group I’m especially pleased with. The goal was to go under 3.50 and I didn’t expect to run 3.47.”
Isaac is looking forward to building on a series of strong performances when he returns to the track next year.
He said: “It’s given me a lot of confidence for 2023 and it could be a big year if everything goes well.
“There’s the European U20 Championships (in Romania in July), where I’d be one year below some of those taking part if I can get selected.”
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