A 12-year-old boy from Croydon won the Virgin mini-marathon in London on Sunday.

Paul Burgess won the three-mile race in an impressive 17 minutes and 10 seconds.

The course ran from Old Billingsgate to The Mall with Croydon youths shining in a number of categories.

Seven young runners achieved top-ten positions for their races, including Shaun White and Michael Maccabe who placed third and fourth respectively in the wheelchair event.

Hollie Haile took seventh place in the under-15’s girls and hopes to improve her time next year when she will still be eligible for this group. Charlotte Rhule was one of the youngest runners in the under-13 girls’ race but still managed an exceptional time of 19 minutes 20 seconds to finish eighth.

Paul managed to shave a minute off his time when he ran last year.

He said: “I just kept looking around me for other yellow and white numbers. I couldn’t see any, so I thought I might be doing well, but it wasn’t until I got called to the VIP area that it really sank in that I had won.”

Councillor Sara Bashford, cabinet member with responsibility for sports development in the borough, said: "This is a great set of results for Croydon’s young runners.

"I’m delighted at their performances, both as individuals and as a team.

"Hopefully in the future we will be seeing some of their names in national - and maybe even international - events."