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On Saturday the 5^th of September I participated in the National Youth Development League final, running for my club Blackheath and Bromley. The final was hosted at the famous Alexander Stadium in Birmingham. The event consisted of the 8 best clubs in the United Kingdom:  Manchester, Edinburgh, Reading, Preston, Southampton, Northampton, Cardiff and us!

 I competed in the 800 meters race as an Under 13.  I was the youngest Under 13 there so I wasn’t expecting to win, however I knew I had to put in full effort to try and get as many points as I could for my team.

On the morning of the competition, we boarded the coach to the stadium which could hold up to approximately 10,000 people.  

I had to go into a big room known as the warm up area where there was a 100meter straight of track,  a high jump mat and other things needed for a good warm up. After I had gone through all my drills, I went into a separate room called the ‘call up area’ which is where the officials checked that the competitors  were present. Ten minutes later, I was on the start line, nervous yet raring and ready to go.

BANG!  The start gun fired and we were off.  I stayed in 6^th place most of the way until the second lap and I increased my speed and  overtook someone in the last 100 meters,.  I sprinted my hardest and ended up finishing in 5^th position with a personal best of 2:32.   I was fairly proud of myself, but most importantly I scored 4 vital points for my team.

I spent the rest of the day supporting my team mates in their various events. Our team was doing well and scoring lots of points, but would this be enough for us to win the title of National Champions? A few hours later, we were sitting nervously in the stand as they called out the final results. We finished second, just behind Edinburgh and I now belong to the second best Athletic Team in the United Kingdom.

Thomas Penlington -  Y7

When waking up Saturday morning, I felt extremely nervous, but confident at the same time, however looking at the huge stands, my heart was pounding even harder and faster.

After a long wait, my event was nearly ready to begin and at 3.30pm we were called to our lanes. I was ready, and filled with adrenalin, and before I knew it I was running down the home straight. I could feel the lactic acid building up in my legs but I had to remain concentrated. As the race finished I did not know if I had won. Later on in the day I found out that I had won by a tenth of a second. My time was 40 seconds dead, and the second place was taken at 40.13 seconds. I was so glad and proud as stood on the podium to receive my medal.

I had my second and final event, the 4X300m. Throughout the year we had been trying to set a new club as the previous record had been held for ten years. I started the race, and managed to hold a gap throughout the whole race. Not only had we broken the club record, but set the second best all time U15 4X300m record in the UK!

Ben Bennett - Y9