A nine-year-old girl is being hailed as a rising star after running five kilometres in under 20 minutes in south-west London.
Lily Janmohamed is causing a sensation at the Battersea Parkrun after recording a world-class time while still attending primary school.
The year five student clocked a personal best earlier this month when she crossed the finish line in an astonishing 19 minutes and 45 seconds.
Lily, from Stanmore in Harrow, even surprised herself when shaving 31 seconds from her previous best, an impressive 20 minutes and 16 seconds.
That time itself already made the headlines as the fastest time for an eight-year-old in Parkrun history last April.
“I wasn’t even thinking about breaking a record. I just wanted to run a good race and see what time I could do,” Lily said.
“I haven’t done a really fast 5k for a long time, so my goal was to run around 20 minutes and I would have been really happy with that. I’m over the moon with my time.
“Running makes me feel so free and strong, like I can do anything. I love chasing new goals and getting better each time.”
A nine-year-old girl is being hailed as a rising star and could have broken a world record after running a 5k in under 20 minutes in Battersea
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GETTY
Unfortunately for Lily, Guinness World Records said that, while her time was impressive, they could not verify whether it was a record as they do not track her age category.
But that did not faze the youngster, who has already set her sights on a “dream” qualification for the London Mini Marathon.
“My dream is to run in the London Mini Marathon, so I really wanted to try and run a fast time. I’m going to keep training hard and keep believing in myself, just like everyone believes in me,” she said.
For the mini marathon, Lily is aiming to represent the borough of Barnet in the under-12 category. Just four girls are selected for the borough, and they had to submit their fastest 5k Parkrun times by March 15.
Lily Janmohamed clocked a personal best earlier this month when she crossed the finish line in an astonishing 19 minutes and 45 seconds
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GETTY
Her father, Faizal Janmohamed, said he was “incredibly proud” of his daughter, adding: “The way she combines her natural ability with her determination and love for running is amazing to see.
“When she sets her mind on something, she gives it everything and seeing her enjoy it and do her best means the world to us.
“She just really enjoys it and finds it effortless. She has got an abundance of energy,” the 41-year-old said.
Parkrun uses an “age-grading calculator” that gives the participants a score based on their run, the higher the better. Any number over 40 per cent means you are fitter than the average person, while numbers above 80 per cent are considered talented on a national level.
Lily, who finished 142nd in the race, scored 88.86 per cent.
Family friend Julia Bijl, who supervised and ran with Lily during the record time, believes she can go even faster.
“My plan was to set a pace of around 3:58 per kilometre and then see what we had left for a little kick at the end. Lily was amazing — she absolutely smashed it,” she said.
“Lily was incredible out there. She’s in great shape and I honestly think she can go even faster. I absolutely love helping Lily. She gets so much enjoyment out of running and it’s brilliant to see.”
The Battersea Parkrun is considered one of the fastest routes in the country, while Tim Grose, who is behind the calculations of the fastest Parkruns in the country, thinks Battersea is one of the most competitive runs in Britain.
