In early February, a Loreto team of six male cross-country runners travelled to the War Memorial Park in Coventry to take part in the King Henry VIII Relay Race. This annual cross-country race, which takes its name from the school that has organised the event since its inception in 1972, gives students the opportunity to compete with the best of their peers across the UK. Notable past competitors include Sebastian Coe and the Brownlee brothers – Alistair and Jonathan.

Each relay team is made up of six members who run a 2.3-mile loop before passing the baton on.  The standard of the 53 teams competing was extremely high this year, with the split times for the winning team averaging under 12 minutes. They won the race in a record time of 71.09 minutes.

Well done to the Loreto Team – Joe Bentall, Seb Patrick, Theo Symons Treacher, Charlie Mansfield (pictured in that order above), Alfie Vesey Barnes and Joshua Evans – who all gave sterling performances (particularly Josh who stepped in at the last minute) and finished in 35th position.