Bury AC had a contingent of five athletes who travelled to Birmingham to compete in the English Junior Track and Field Championships.

The standout performance came from Ben Clarke in the under 15 boys javelin competition. His best throw of 48.51 earned him a brilliant bronze medal.

He is delivering real consistency in his throwing and he has cemented his reputation as one of the best young throwers in the country. Also in the under 15 boys category was combined eventer Oliver Cooper, competing in the pole vault. He added a massive 12 centimetres to his personal best, clearing the bar at 3.72 and taking fourth place.

Evie Elliott competed in the under 17 women’s 300m hurdles and qualified for the final by placing third in her heat with 47.05. Unfortunately she was unable to repeat her time in the final and placed seventh in 49.56. It was still a great achievement to make the final. Jemima Miles was also competing in the under 17 women’s category, but over 80m hurdles, where she took sixth in her heat with 12.25.

The competition also incorporated the National Combined Events Championships with Jay Cook competing in the under 20 mens decathlon. He amassed a total of 5461 points, a season’s best, and took thirteenth place. He had particularly strong performances in the shot (13.20) and pole vault (3.30) disciplines. These young athletes could not compete at the level they do without the support of their parents who make significant sacrifices taking them to training and competition venues.

On Wednesday Bury hosted a Trafford Grand Prix meeting which incorporated several British Milers Club races. They produced some fantastic performances with new records being established on Bury’s fast new track. Italian Ossama Meslek scorched around the track in the A 800 metres, setting a new personal best of 1.46.94. A great final warm up race prior to him heading to Paris to compete in the Olympic Games. In second place was young Scot Jamie Phillips. His new personal best time of 1.47.47 eclipsed the previous Scottish Under 20s record for the distance, held by Graham Williamson and set 45 years ago. Salford’s Harry Wakefield won the A 1500m in 3.41.23, a new personal best. Bury’s Martin Clark ran in the A 3000m open race where he set a new personal best of 8.45.34 to take eighth place. Caitlyn Johnston competed over 800m, taking sixth place in 2.23.48, just 1.5 seconds away from her personal best.

Bury host the British Milers Club’s Grand Prix meeting on Saturday 10th August. This will see middle distance athletes from all around the world competing at the Market Street Track. Tickets can be pre-booked from the BMC website at a price of £6 or they are £10 on the day. The event promises to be the best spectacle of middle distance racing outside of the Olympics.

On the Thursday evening Jack Griffiths competed at the Run Media City 5k Road Race. He took an excellent third place in 17.30. The winner was Bury second claim athlete Brandon Quinton, running for his first claim club of Warrington and completing the course in 15.24.

At the Heaton Park Parkrun on Saturday morning there was a one-two-three for Bury AC women with Caitlyn Johnston taking first (19.04 PB), Sarah Thomas second (20.20) and Katie Geelan third (20.38). Bury’s other top ten competitors included Byron Edwards, second with 17.25, Conor Wilkinson fifth with 18.02, Paul Johnston seventh with 18.14 and Craig Sykes tenth with 18.44.