Kim Critchley

BORN to run - that's York's tough of the cross-country trail Kim Critchley.

From the highlands of Kenya to the flat-lands of Roundhay Park, Critchley has spent the best part of 18 years pounding track and more regularly turf in pursuit of athletic excellence.

And anyone who can top the son of two-time Olympic gold medallist Kip Keino has got to be special. Certainly that's how the unassuming Critchley is regarded among his club-mates at Knavesmire Harriers Running Club.

Critchley was a young spring-heeled sprite in his teenage pomp back in his native Kenya when he took on Martin Keino, son of Kip Keino, one of Africa's greatest Olympians, who bagged four medals at the highest level - two gold and two silver.

How the duo came to be in competition was recalled by Critchley as he reflected the start he made to what has since developed into an accomplished cross-country career across York, Yorkshire and the North of England.

"Kip Keino was my hero when I was a youngster and, coincidentally, I was at school with his son Martin," he explained.

"His dad came to our school to make a presentation and I raced against Martin, who later also became a professional athlete. I was about 12 or 13 and I beat him in the 400 metres."

What a memory for anyone to cherish. It is one that still warms the heart of Critchley, whose own athletic accomplishments were recognised in the first York Sports Awards when he was named runner-up in the Sports Personality of the Year distinction at the tail-end of 2007.

Sport, and principally running, has been one of the driving forces for the youngster, who was born in Kenya after his dad Will, a footballer with Harrogate Town in the early 1970s, went to work in Africa.

"I remember him telling me how he played against the likes of the great Leeds United team of Billy Bremner and Co in a friendly when he was with Harrogate Town.

"He also played with a local team where we lived in the Kenyan highlands. When I was youngster I used to run with him when he was training," said Critchley, a housing support worker with City of York Council. "I suppose that's how I really got started."

When he was 13, Critchley junior was sent to boarding school in England, shipping up at Pocklington, where sport was always encouraged and where a variety of disciplines attracted the teenager's natural ability.

"I played rugby, cricket and hockey at school and when I took up athletics I did the 400 metres. I also did a bit of cross-country, but I wasn't really that good."

How times have changed.

Critchley, now aged 34, opened 2008 with an impressive third place in the Yorkshire Cross Country championships at Hudders-field to earn his Yorkshire vest. Just last year he starred for Yorkshire in the Inter-Country Cross Country championships.

The first outing of 2008 - the race was won by Bingley's world junior triathlon champion Alister Brownlee - confirmed he was in ideal form for next week's assault on the North of England Cross Country championships at Roundhay Park in Leeds, which he deemed one of his favourite circuits.

"The Huddersfield track is quite hilly, and I prefer running on a flatter cross-country course such as that in Roundhay Park," he said.

That is hardly surprising considering how Critchley is plagued by ankle trouble and a knee injury so severe that his preparation for each race hardly qualifies as orthodox.

Unlike many of his adversaries, Critchley manages on average only about ten miles of running each week. That's because after each race, a cartilage problem leaves him barely able to run for the next three days.

Rather than put in the miles in advance of his cross country duels, the dedicated Knavesmire Harrier instead embarks on a variety of cross-training, including strenuous work in the gymnasium at the Next Generation complex, plus swimming at Yearsley Indoor Pool, and cycling, all events which have also aided his several excursions into the gruelling worlds of duathlons and triathlons over the past few years.

"I just make sure that everything I do in my cross-training gives me a really good workout," he explained, adding how he and several Harriers team-mates enjoyed an eight-day walk high in the Swiss Alps last year.

And Critchley is determined to keep on competing fuelled by his conviction that whenever he takes a rest his injured knee deteriorates even more.

There is nothing of the loneliness of the long-distance runner about Critchley though. Running for him is as much about the social side of club life with Knavesmire Harriers, whom he joined six years ago, as it is about his keen competitive streak.

Enthused Critchley: "There is a great buzz about running, but if it wasn't for the camaraderie, I don't think I would keep on running. There's a great group of people at Knavesmire Harriers. We all give each other a lot of support and we all socialise with each other. That's also a big buzz."

Admiration for Brass runners

CROSS country ace Kim Critchley has nothing but admiration for anyone tackling Knavesmire Harriers' Brass Monkey half-marathon.

The event celebrates its 25th anniversary this weekend when Critchley will again act as a race marshal.

Under club rules Knavesmire Harriers are not allowed to enter, and in a way Critchley welcomes that embargo.

"Due to my injury I can't do road races, but the event is always during the rain and cold, it's so hard work. I much prefer to run in mud," he said.

Critchley added how the race was so popular he is regularly bombarded with requests from runners wanting to take part.

He said: "I'm always being asked if I can squeeze them in because, every year, almost as soon as the entry dates are announced, the race is full. It's that popular."