Park king Andrew in seventh heaven (From Croydon Guardian)

Park king Andrew in seventh heaven

11:07am Friday 3rd February 2012 in Sport By Stuart Amos

Thames Hare & Hounds runner Andrew Lawrence has admitted his seven-race winning streak at the Bushy Park parkrun is more down to luck than judgement.

The 26-year-old finance manager has a 100 per cent win record from his seven appearances at the Saturday morning event, which attracts runners of the calibre of world 5,000m champion Mo Farah.

Lawrence, who lives in Kew, beat 700 athletes to the finish line in clocking 16 minutes, 31 seconds to triumph over the five kilometre course on January 21 – pipping his nearest rival by only three seconds.

But while there is an element of good fortune behind his unbeaten run, that makes him no less determined to keep hold of it.

“If you look at some of the winning times either side of my wins, they are quite a bit quicker than my times, so I have been quite lucky,” he said.

“When I round the final corner there is that extra urge to make sure I don’t lose the winning streak. We’ll see how long it lasts.”

Lawrence, who also represents home town club Morpeth Harriers, is using the race to prepare for the national cross country championships in March – where he is aiming to finish in the top 100 – before taking on the London Marathon.

“You are a decent runner if you are in the top 100 at the nationals. I’d like to achieve that before I am 30,” he added.