Feature Profiles
26 May, 2026
RUNNING IN THE USA
TWO Boort teenagers are heading for the US in September to launch their international running careers. Finlay Arnold, 16, and Noah Howe, 14, will be racing distances between 3000m to 10,000m at meets in Los Angeles and Las Vegas – with a training camp in Arizona in between
TWO Boort teenagers are heading for the US in September to launch their international running careers. Finlay Arnold, 16, and Noah Howe, 14, will be racing distances between 3000m to 10,000m at meets in Los Angeles and Las Vegas – with a training camp in Arizona in between. The 188cm (and rising) multidiscipline athletes are stars in the Boort under 17s where they share rucking duties when they’re not busy training for cross country races and triathlons and have been mates for several years after Noah’s family relocated from Echuca to Boort. And both are still amazed they made the cut for the Sports Travel Australia cross country tour. Finlay says he heard about it after Noah had received his invitation. “I knew Noah had received a letter via the school to say he would be going and then I got mine after the swimming carnival, and was shocked to get the news,” he says. Which is exactly what Noah says he felt when he got his letter: “I couldn’t believe it, really, the news was just unbelievable, and now we are both going I think we will have a pretty good time”. Running and football might be a shared passion, but the boys also go in their own directions – Finlay is a fanatical triathlete while his equally tall young mate plays centre in the local basketball team. Finlay has been to the US before – well, Hawaii anyway – and Noah’s been to Bali too but for both this will be their first time in the continental US and their first international competition. To get there both had to make the state cross country championships and meet pre-determined entry standards for the touring team. “We had to submit times for 1500m, 5000m and 10,000m to ensure we are entered for the right categories and now we can’t wait to get there,” Finlay says. And he’ll be going in peak form – he won his first triathlon this year at the Hexman Shepparton event, tipping out his nearest rival by more than three minutes. He has also collected five top 10 finishes in the 2XU circuit – in the 15-19 years category, with each race a better time. “I love to run but I still see myself as more of a triathlete, it was the running leg in that which has also seen my take on cross country,” Finlay explains. “Most of my competitions are in Melbourne, but I did do the Gold Coast aquathon in February as well,” he says. “I’m coached by Adam Beckworth in Geelong (a former elite triathlete, Beckworth competed in the Australian national series and French professional grad prix) and the events I currently target involve a 750m swim, 20km bike ride and 5km run.” Like every young athlete he is also aiming high with the Olympic triathlon the ultimate goal, but right now he is more focused on his next race and the US in September. And when he’s not training, competing, travelling or sleeping, the Year 11 student does find some time for school, but if you delete sport and outdoor education from his options list, he reckons maths might be his next best subject – he’s even fast-tracking (well, it wouldn’t be slow tracking with him would it?) Year 12 general maths. Mind you, despite all his success, apparently Finlay is making himself something of a nuisance at home – his indoor bike trainer is parked fair and square in front of the family TV on a permanent basis, so anyone wanting to see anything is forced to sit at some rather unusual angles or do a lot of head twisting to see the screen. And nuisance is a theme which seems to run through these fast-footed teens. Noah, who does turn 15 in July and is doing Year 9, admits he really got into running as a five-year-old, racing up and down the passage driving his mother crazy, and has never slowed down. But now he has a nuisance of his own – he is currently nursing a case of ‘jumper’s knee’ which has him taping heavily for football, going to the physio and doing regular stretching exercises and some weight work. Patellar tendinitis – the real name for his condition – is an overuse injury causing inflammation and pain in the tendon connecting the kneecap to the shinbone, often from repetitive jumping or running (uh, oh). “It’s not too bad, and it doesn’t cause me any problems with my running at this stage,” Noah says. He says playing with, and running against, his older mate is always entertaining. On the footy field he says their skillsets complement each other in the ruck and when it comes to running it’s a case of catch me if you can. “I seemed to have a natural affinity with cross country, it just feels right and I love nothing more than to push myself and see how far I can go,” Noah explains. “My best times for the 3000m are around 11 minutes, and a bit over 17 minutes for the 5000m,” he says. “In cross country I have made it to the state championships, have won the school title, competed in the north central district competition and finished sixth in the regionals. “Although Finlay and I are two years apart at school we are closer in age and we both like to go hard.” Like Finlay, Noah also had to think hard about a favourite subject at school once you removed the sporting/outdoor alternatives but says he is pretty happy with his progress in chemistry, the only science subject he is doing. “I enjoy school, but I also enjoy being on the farm, and at the moment I am weighing up my sporting options going forward,” Noah says. “I love the running, I love the basketball, and the footy, and there are lots of opportunities popping up, like the American tour, so I guess I am weighing it all up and still taking it day by day,” he says
Read More: Loddon Shire, Berrimal, Boort