Athletics: Northland runner Bella Earl looking for recognition on the national stage

Northland's Bella Earl is ready to unleash her skills on the rest of the country as she competes in the Year 9 girls national secondary schools cross country race in Timaru today. Photo / John Stone

When Bella Earl hears the starting gun in her cross country race today, it won't just be about putting one foot in front of the other.

Earl, who competes in the three-kilometre, Year 9 national cross country championship race in Timaru, will execute a carefully laid out plan. She'll get ahead of the 82-runner field early, stay with the lead pack and slowly pull away, hopefully to a win.

While it might seem simple, the plan has been crafted and reinforced by one of Northland's greatest athletics exports, Ian Babe. Also the Athletics NZ president, Babe came out of a brief coaching retirement to train the 13-year-old when he first saw her in late 2017.

Since the pair's partnership began, Earl has recorded extraordinary results for her age. She won the junior girls 1500-metre race at the North Island secondary schools athletics competition with a personal best of 4:51:39, mere seconds off a Northland 13-year-old girl 1500m record which has stood for 39 years.

In 2018, Earl won the Year 8 cross country race at the intermediate school sports tournament, the AIMS games, as well as the Auckland 13-year-old 1500m championship race, both by margins of up to 20 seconds.

Earl has been balancing her first year at Whangārei Girls' High School with up to three trainings a week. Photo / John Stone

Babe first saw Earl in 2017 running Whangārei's Hātea Loop and saw her potential in an instant. After monitoring her progress in a few following races, Babe approached parents Adrian and Anita to see if they would allow Earl to pursue running.

"We arranged a meeting, they didn't know who I was at all," Babe said. "So I just laid it all on the line and I said, 'Your young lady could be quite a good runner'."

The pair train up to three times a week at varying locations. Whangārei's athletics track at Kensington Park and Barge Park are regular training locations as well as the Whangārei Aquatic Centre where Earl has been doing a lot of strength training.

Earl is in the pool regularly to develop her muscles in a low-impact way. Photo / Tania Whyte

Babe, who was a coach to many accomplished athletes, said it was important to teach young athletes to train efficiently and safely.

"We're doing a lot of technical work. She needs a lot of work so she can have less oxygen cost.

"The pool work has been very important because I believe in pool running, and we've just given her an appropriate programme to teach her how to train."

Earl's training has also encompassed measuring heart rate, and eating and sleeping habits so Babe could prescribe a weekly training plan which suited her physical state.

Earl follows a regimented training schedule whether it be on land or in the water. Photo / Tania Whyte

As for her future in running, Babe was hesitant to specify her potential in the sport but knew she could go far with the support of her parents.

"One of the key things about coaching Bella is the excellent support that [her parents] have shown and that's vital. Without that, I wouldn't be coaching Bella."

Parents Adrian and Anita said Earl had shown promise in running in her early years doing school cross country races in Pukekohe before the family relocated to Parua Bay in Northland.

Already an national under-15 cross country champion, Earl has a bright future in front of her. Photo / John Stone

Adrian Earl confirmed they had no clue who Babe was when he first approached them in late 2017, but warmed to the idea when they learned of Babe's history.

"We were really excited once we found out who he was," he said.

"He told us all about himself and we thought it probably was a good idea to get Bella involved."

He said he was blown away by what his daughter had achieved but also what impact her running passion had had on the family. Five years ago, he weighed 105 kilograms - since then he had dropped to 77kgs.

"If it's a pool session, a lot of the time the whole family will go which has helped everyone get fit," he said. "I'm fitter than what I was when I was 20 years old which is great."

With Earl's impending inclusions in national age-group athletics squads in coming years, her family would support her running as long as she wanted to pursue it.

"As long as she's happy and enjoying it. We don't want to put too much pressure on her so we'll just see how it progresses."

Northland running legend and Athletics NZ president Ian Babe has taken the young runner under his wing. Photo / John Stone