11 December 2018
The photo above shows the junior girls at the end of their race in the National Schools Cross Country finals in Suffolk. At this point we did not know the results of the race, however over the tannoy we soon heard the countdown of the top 10 teams (out of 27 schools racing). We thought we may have been 5th or 4th, but as the countdown went on and got to 4th place and we hadn't been announced yet, the excitement grew. When we heard the announcement "And in 3rd place with 112 points, it's Durham Johnston Comprehensive School" the whole group erupted, all the parents, staff and both the girls and boys’ teams were ecstatic. This is the best performance of any cross country team we have ever had, we have made quite a few National finals over the years, but 3rd is an outstanding achievement. Let’s not forget the junior boys who also ran an outstanding race and came in at 14th (out of 27 schools) in the competition. It is a major achievement to have qualified, so to have 2 teams make it to National finals is very special and we are very proud of them all. Each and every runner took part with sheer determination, resilience, guts and courage, fantastic team effort from all 12 competitors. Our tagline has always been #runlikethewind well the certainly did, they ran like the wind.
