Mitchelmore is the pride of the Midlands

Callum Mitchelmore, 15, was too strong for the chasing pack as he claimed the Midland Cross Country Championships at Prestwold Hall in Loughborough.

The Shrewsbury Athletics Club runner held off a late challenge from last year's winner, Adam Searle, to finish the muddy four kilometre course in an impressive 17 minutes and seven seconds.

The win ensured Mitchelmore, from Pontesbury, who also finished second in the Shropshire County Championships at Attingham Park last month, claimed the Midlands under-15 boys championship.

Grace Hough, endurance coach at Shrewsbury AC, said: "He was running against nearly 200 runners at Loughborough and his time was particularly fast on what was a heavy and boggy course.

"I think Callum could go far but we won't push him too quickly. He is enjoying his sport at the moment, which is the main thing and he'll just keep taking each competition as it comes.

"We encourage our athletes to practice on the track during the summer targetting 1,500 and 3,000 metre races.

"But Callum loves cross country and trains in a big group at the club of about 12 to 15 who are all the same sort of age.

"We try to mix the training up each week to keep it interesting."

Athletics runs in Mitchelmore's family and he often runs with his father, Darren, who competes with Shrewsbury Triathlon Club.

He trains four times a week, twice with the athletics club and twice on his own around Pontesbury.

Hough said: "We don't push them too hard at Callum's age because they don't start specialising until they are 17 or 18. We also keep the mileage low to try and prevent injuries."

Shropshire runner Stan Willis, from Much Wenlock, also finished third in the Midland championships at Prestwold Hall in the under-17 age category.