Good weather and a reasonable turnout of athletes, complimented a dedicated band of officials to produce a memorable day's athletics championship at the Tidworth Oval on Sunday.

Entries were comparable in number to previous years; however, senior athletes (20 years of age +) were in short supply.

This is indicative of many of the counties in the region; a number of contributory causes can be apportioned to this.

It was left in the main to the younger athletes to enjoy the sunshine and raise the bar with regard to athletic achievement during the day.

The very first event of the day highlighted what we could look forward to.

Only one athlete took part in the Ladies Under 17 300m Hurdles.

But Millie Clifford from the Salisbury club broke a record held by Wiltshire’s Winter Olympic Silver Medallist, Shelly Rudman.

A case of quality but not quantity which would be repeated during the day. Several records were broken in the 3000m the most notable being Simon Plummer (Senior Men) running for the Woodford Green with Essex Ladies club who recorded 8mins 50.8 seconds.

One of the best performances of the day came from one of the last events on the programme, the Men’s U17 400m.

Josh Eades from the Marlborough club broke a long standing (1975) record to record a time of 50.7 secs.

This is also an automatic entry standard to the English Schools Championships in July, an event which many of the young athletes in the county strive to gain entry to.

Other records on the day were Afini Payne-Bonnick (Team Bath) in the Girls U13 100m 13.7. Sophie Thomas (Salisbury) in the senior ladies Javelin. Sarah Neate (Team Bath) in the Girls U15 75m Hurdles 12.0 and John Howorth (Team Bath) in the Boys U11 600m 1.55.5, an event which formed part of the U11’s Quad kids challenge.

With the availability to purchase commemorative clothing for all those who had pre entered, most athletes and parents expressed that the day had been a fun and entertaining day out.

Some of the athletes will I am sure go on to represent the county in other competitions later in the season and hopefully their country in years to come.