A GROUP of St Albans School cross country runners are preparing to take on the biggest challenge of their careers.

They fly out to Malta on Sunday to compete in the ISF World Schools Cross Country Championships.

The young team from St Albans School qualified for the event by winning the English Schools Championship at Alnwick last year.

Since then they have been training and competing hard.

Coach George Harrison, said: “They are coming good at the right time - there’s a little bit to do, but we are nearly there.”

He took charge of a final training session in the Abbey Orchard on Friday afternoon, shared with the New Zealand team, which was paying a visit en route to Malta.

The big race on Tuesday (March 27) will be followed by a day of cultural exchange before a friendly world relay with all the international runners on Thursday.

Joe Redwood, one of the runners, said that the group planned to perform some Shakespeare as part of the cultural activities.

For the moment, though, all thoughts are on training for the biggest run of their lives.