60m race on a specially laid track in Manchester town square and as part of my prize I won mentorship from Linford Christie and Darren Campbell, some Nike sponsorship and a winner’s day occasion.At the start of May I was informed that the winner’s day was to be a workshop with Tyson Gay and Debbie Ferguson McKenzie in Manchester and then the following day we would have the opportunity to race on the 200m straight track laid on Deansgate, Manchester. At first I was afraid I would be unable to attend as I couldn’t afford the flights back but here my Granddad stepped in and paid for my flights – a big thank you to him!
So on Thursday 13th May I set off to Manchester in a very excited mood to say the least! That flight was the longest flight ever – it felt like it lasted for HOURS!!! When I eventually arrived I went straight to my local athletics club (Bolton United Harriers) to catch up with my English team mates as I hadn’t seen them since before I moved to Malta in October. I woke up very early on the Friday morning ready to go and mix with my heroes. But first I had to head to the physio to strap my ankle as I had (and still have!) a small injury – I didn’t even make it out of my PJs! Then back home it was to pack for the rest of the day and the Saturday.
My Mum and I (unfortunately my Dad had to be at work!) jumped on a train into Manchester and headed t
o the Malmaison Hotel where I was to stay the night. I had never been to such a posh hotel! Yes I admit it – as soon as I went into my room I jumped onto the bed!! As I was the only winner from the North I had to wait for the coach from London with all the other winners to arrive. I have never known time pass so slowly!! When they finally arrived and checked in we crowded onto a mini bus and headed to Sports City where the workshop was to be held.We were put in a room trackside to sit and wait. To while away the time Linford and Darren presented us (well threw at us!) our second delivery of Nike kit – or at least part of it as the trainers and spikes hadn’t made it! Then we all sat and chatted away excitedly whiling away the time. Whilst peering out of the window to see who could spot Tyson first we started to see other track stars: much to our surprise there were going to be more people than just Tyson and Debbie.
At last we were allowed onto the track and were introduced to the array of athletic legends before us: Tyson Gay and Debbie Ferguson McKenzie as expected, plus Kim Collins, Shawn Crawford, Felix Sanchez and Terrence Trammell. We were in awe of them and even more excited if this was physically possible!! After a mass warm up we were spilt into smaller groups and rotated round in three groups doing sessions with the athletes focusing on their specialities.
First I was with Tyson and Linford. After the initial thoughts of “OMG! This is re
ally him and he’s stood next to me – what do I say?!?!?” the questions soon started to flow. We discussed in depth preparations made on a race day. Then we did the plyos Tyson does in his warm up before a comp and he focused on us all telling us how to improve our technique – though I must add he was impressed with my technique! Much to my surprise Tyson was very shy and timid but opened up a bit more as we spent more time with him and he cracked a few jokes and smiles with us. After what seemed like no time at all we were to move on to the next session.Next I had hurdles with Terrence Trammell and Felix Sanchez. First we did walk over drills that fl
at sprinters do as well as specialist hurdlers. Much to everybody’s amusement I volunteered to go first and promptly knocked over the first hurdle but with no shame I laughed and carried on with my head high! These first drills I did with Felix and the girls but then the boys who were with Terrence on the higher hurdles started to jump over them (not hurdle!) so I moved over to their group and much to everyone’s surprise I jumped them first time – much better than the boys who were scared! Then it became a game between me and Terrence: he would challenge me to do a harder drill and I’d manage so he’d think of a harder one and challenge me again – it was great fun!! At first I did the demos for him for the boys but in the end it was just me and Terrence as the boys gave up and left us to it to play our “game”!!Then we moved on again to Debbie Ferguson McKenzie, Kim Collins and Shawn Crawford to focus on sprint technique. We talked about the importance of posture, arms and the angle of our
feet amongst other things: then we tried to apply what we had talked about and they coached us accordingly. Then I “complained” that we hadn’t done any block start work so then Shawn went in search of blocks whilst announcing loudly “The girl wants to do blocks – go find her some!!” This was much to the organiser’s horror as they had planned what each session was meant to contain and blocks were not included! But who argues with an athletic legend?!!? Or more importantly – a Bolton School girl!! So then we did blocks: we had good fun trying
different techniques to see which was most effective. I asked them if there was any way to strengthen your fingers as blocks put a lot of pressure through your fingers. Shawn told me to suck it up and not to be so soft! But Kim told me he does press ups with his hands in the block position and gave us a quick demo. So up for another challenge I tried too and much to everybody’s amazement I managed a good set of deep press ups!
Time had now flown away so the scheduled Q & A session and photos didn’t happen. However, with a smile on my face and spikes in hand with my “Sharpie” pen I went to each of them and got them to sign my spikes and of course a photo too! My spikes have now become my babies!! At the end Darren and Linford told us how they had been given a lollipop for their first athletics payment and they gave us a tenner! It was very kind of them however I must admit I was a bit disappointed it wasn’t a lollipop! We were then transported back to the hotel to get ready for our meal.At the meal we were spilt up onto four tables each with a successful athlete: I had the honour of sitting next to Iwan Thomas. Katharine Merry was hosting the evening and instead of the traditional Q & A sessions, between courses each table shared what they had been discussing – of course topics to be shared were chosen carefully! The topics discussed ranged from eating habits and whether it’s quicker to run in a straight line or with a curve to more trivial topics like our favourite beaches and embarrassing stories - most getting at Linford! I thoroughly enjoyed the evening and of course the food – especially the steak!!
After a big breakfast on Saturday we all met in the hotel lobby ready to race. We were all of a buzz from the day before plus with the opportunity to race on a raised straight track down Deansga
te amongst all the shops! But first Linford and I had to strap my ankle which was a giggle to say the least! The concentration on his face was amazing! We all traipsed through Manchester centre to get to the track, getting many strange looks along the way. We warmed up and were divided into our races. We pinned on our huge numbers – which was a task on its own when you are wearing a crop top! – and stuck on our lane numbers to our legs.When it came to my race it turned out Felix was going to be the starter for us, which again added to my already high level of excitement. To add to this level even more he saw my signed spikes on my feet and asked me if he could sign them too (he had gone early the day before). I couldn’t believe Felix Sanchez had just ASKED to sign MY feet!!! We decided I should race first and he would sign them afterwards. My race wasn’t so good to my disappointment and I only managed 19.15s f
or 150m (this is slow!). However, when talking the race over with Linford afterwards he told me it was because I was just far too excited but as long as I had had a good time that was what the race was all about – not times! I’m glad to say that both my parents and Granddad were able to come and watch me run this special race – it meant a lot to me!After the race I went to get Felix to sign my spikes which involved me breaking the organisation and security again! However, the same applied - who messes with an Olympian?!?! After thanking everybody for the once in a life time opportunity I headed back home and back to reality – my taster as a professional athlete was over!
On the Sunday the big names were to race so I headed back into Manchester with my parents to go and watch, now with my added personal interest in the athletes I had spent time with the day before. Many of them recognised me in the crowd and came over to talk to me and of course I wished them all my luck. It was impressive and extremely inspiring to see some of the best athletes in the world competing live. The highlight of the day had to be watching Tyson break the world record of Tommie Smith for the straight 200m. I would like to point out that he broke that record running in my footsteps!!!
Before flying back to Malta on the Monday night I spent the morning in school catching up with my old school teachers and discussing how much I had managed to achieve in roughly 12 months! The afternoon was filled with a very tough 3 ½ hour gym session – a big hit back to reality for sure!
I headed to the airport unsure whether I would actually make it back or not due to the volcanic ash cloud. In the end we were delayed four hours but made it back. The flight wasn’t without stardom either: Garry Neville was on board and I spent a good half an hour chatting to
him going through Malta airport. Much to our amusement going through boarder control a pushy lady pushed right into him and moved him out the way – she clearly had no idea who he was!It is for definite that it has been the best weekend of my life so far!! I found it extremely inspiring spending time with my heroes and it has further fuelled my dreams and aspirations of becoming a professional athlete.
