NATALIE Cotton clinched a spot on the podium at the final race of the Born2Run series in Castlewellan on Saturday.
The talented athlete, who is currently balancing her GCSE studies with working towards her Silver Duke of Edinburgh Award, is a regular volunteer at Castlewellan Parkrun.
While she’s often seen helping out on Saturday mornings, she opts to run the course from time to time– when she does, she uses it as a baseline marker and is showing remarkable results.
On Saturday, Natalie was determined to improve her 5k race time and pushed herself to the limit. Representing the NIMRA junior squad earlier this year in the mountains, she has been working hard on her form and is an inspiration to the younger girls in the club.
On race day, she took off from the front of the pack, maintaining a strong pace throughout the 5K route, which featured a challenging hill section in the middle.
After setting a Parkrun personal best just the week before, Natalie knew she had the potential for a competitive time. Crossing the line in a remarkable finish, she was only seconds behind second place.
To her surprise, she was announced as the third lady across the finish line.
Thrilled with her performance, Natalie stood proudly on the podium and immediately set her sights on her next challenge.
Read the full story in the Mourne Observer to find out how the other athletes fared.
