Youngsters already up and running
DURING a quiet spell, most of the athletics action is taking place North of the Scottish border for a small but hardy group of Stockport’s young athletes.
Led by lead coach Joe Frost, the youngsters took in the Glasgow Yuletide open meeting at the Emirates Stadium with hardly a chance for the festive bird to go cold before serious training has recommenced.
Stockport’s Sam Ayre went in the under 13 boy’s competition to record a useful 9:15 seconds for the 60 metres sprint and then followed it up with a fourth finish in his event at 200 metres in 30:61. Colleague Rebecca Cox took to the high jump in the same age group to clear 1:38 metres for her efforts.
Two Harriers took part in the 60 metres sprint which attracted the efforts of Darcy Breen (fifth – 9:74) and just behind her also in the under 13s age group was Holly Stewart who stopped the clock in 9:76 for a sixth position.
These and other athletes have much more to undertake over the next two months on the indoor circuit events – most of which will be taking place at the English institute of sport in Sheffield.
Also North of the border, chief executive officer of Life Leisure, Malcome McPhail, set an example to other persons seeking to get fit through sport by participating in the annual New Year sprint at Musselburgh racecourse and made it through in the early rounds. But it was hats off to eventual winner Greg Kelly of East Kilbride AC in the final.
The distance was small, only 110 metres but the rewards were great in the form of a £4,000 bounty to the winner and in talking to McPhail afterwards it turned out that this was the nearest you’ll probably ever get to human horse racing with the event in it’s 148th year being originally established in 1870 and athletics events don’t come much older than that.
Stockport’s Ross Millington was unable to participate in the annual New Year’s eve Bolzano classic in Italy and has also had to pull out of the Great Scottish cross country event at Holyrood Park, Edinburgh owing to illness. But every cloud has a silver lining as his club mate Jack (Jaybird) Martin, who started as a reserve, has since been called forward for his GB vest to compete in the eight kilometre event.
This coming Saturday sees the fourth of five Manchester cross country league events taking place at Kenworthy Woods, Northern Moor, starting with the first event at midday. Stockport’s Jack Morris has already nailed his colours to the mast by winning the first three races but can he realise another win in the series to ensure he takes the championship and cannot be caught with his senior event scheduled to start at 2.30pm?