Mia Thomson dominates Zespri AIMS Games cross-country Year 8 race

Paraparaumu Beach School's Mia Thomson leads the pack through the walnut grove at Waipuna Park in Tauranga at the Zespri AIMS Games. Photo / Jamie Troughton

Mia Thomson is proof that persistence pays off.

After finishing third in last year’s Year 7 girls race, the 13-year-old stormed home to win the Zespri AIMS Games cross-country Year 8 title at Waipuna Park in Tauranga on Sunday.

Mia, from Paraparaumu Beach School, has a family full of long-distance runners and said her plan was always to get ahead from the start.

“I normally like to lead from the front but I was nervous today.”

Mia Thomson crosses the finish line to win the Zespri AIMS Games cross-country Year 8 title at Waipuna Park in Tauranga. Photo / Zach Quin

After spending 10 minutes and 59.08 seconds galloping freely in open spaces, Mia will spend the rest of the week confined to a small hockey goal, bedecked in padding.

Answering the call from her schoolmates, she’s agreed to be the goalkeeper in the Paraparaumu girls hockey team for the rest of the tournament.

The Zespri AIMS Games is an annual week-long sports tournament for intermediate-aged students from around the country and overseas.

A record 395 schools have entered across the 27 sporting codes, stretching from Northland to Southland, as well as international schools from the Cook Islands and Fiji.

It has been 20 years since the first ever AIMS Games and this year there are nearly 13,000 young athletes competing — more than the Paris 2024 Olympics.