The junior runners of Sidmouth Running Club travelled to the Brickfields athletics track in Plymouth on Sunday, for the first South West Athletics League fixture of the season.

The junior runners of Sidmouth Running Club travelled to the Brickfields athletics track in Plymouth on Sunday, for the first South West Athletics League fixture of the season. This is the first time the club has competed in a full track and field event. Whilst we are principally a running club, the event gives an opportunity for our athletes to try out different field events to complement their running. As the new kids on the block, we were placed in the 2nd Division of the League, and were up against teams such as Bath AC who have the luxury of training in a UK Athletics Centre of Excellence, compared to our humble training grounds, The Byes, East Hill Strips and Mutters Moor!Not surprisingly, the competition was of a high standard, but the Sidmouth athletes rose to the challenge and competed strongly. Track and field events always have lots going on and it is some challenge for the coach to ensure that all athletes are ready for their specific events throughout the day. Events such as this always rely on volunteers to officiate over the recording of times and lengths of throws and jumps. Thanks go to Mick Allen, John Perratt and Bill Valentine for helping out at the track.Events started at 11.30am, and in one of the earliest races Sam Withers had a fine 3000m and finished third (12.14) , with Nathan Carpenter just behind in fourth. (12.22). In the same event for under-15 boys, Titch Harwood finished fifth in 11.27 just ahead of Kit Grierson in 11.40. Zak Francis milked the applause of the crowd in the home straight to finish in 14.03.In the 100m, Tanya Marriot and Kelsey Fitzgerald ran similar times, 15.4 and 15.5 respectively. Phoebe Davey crossed the line in 15.9. The 100m for under-17 women saw Sophie Davey come home in 14.7 and Ettie Shattock in 14.8. In the 200m Sophie and Georgina Trivett recorded exactly the same time, 31.4 seconds.The 1500m race for under-13 boys had Tom Norris battling it out for a gutsy fourth place in 5.36 and Grey Grierson just behind in sixth (5.44). Nick Smith finished eighth in 5.57. In the 1500m for under-15 girls, Georgia Hanson had a fine race to finish fourth in 6.08.As is usual in track and field, the relays are at the end of the day's programme, and as the heavens opened our relay teams of Ashe DeSousa, Jessica Jenkins, Myshka Hall and Georgia Hanson for the girls, and Tom, Jake Hawkins, Grey, and Nick did well to get the baton round in wet conditions. A creditable performance by both teams.In the field events, Grey finished second in the javelin with a tremendous throw of 18.58ms and likewise, Jessica Jenkins threw an impressive 16.94m and finished third in a strong field. New to the long jump were Kelsie Bernard, Georgia Sage and Alex Salmon. They all enjoyed it and recorded creditable jumps, 2.86m, 2.47m and 2.71m respectively. In the under-17 women's long jump, Ettie Shattock finished second with a fine 3.92m.This has been an important building block in the long term development of the club's athletes and we are looking forward to the next fixture at Yeovil on May 25. l If you would like any information on the Juniors' section at Sidmouth Running Club, then give Malcolm Bayer a ring on (01404) 812186.