On Sunday (September 24), three Ely Runners Junior girls took part in the Eastern Athletic Association County Pentathlon Championships at the Embankment Track in Peterborough.  

 

The Pentathlon involves long jump, high jump, 75m Hurdles, shot put and 800m run. They were up against clubs from Cambridgeshire, Norfolk, Suffolk, Essex and Hertfordshire.  

 

Being good endurance runners, they had never done the other events before, so it was a big learning curve for them and their coach Alan Rutterford.  

 

Alan had only six weeks to prepare the girls for the event, whereas the other clubs train most of the year on proper tracks. So, with the challenge of helping them out, Alan coached them up to four nights a week, and they only had two sessions on the high jump.  

 

Both Ruby Rae-Smith and Isabella Robinson competed in the harder U15 age group, and Connie Abraham competed in the U13 group.  

 

It was a long day, starting about 10am and finishing at 6pm, but the girls did really well, with Ruby going from 3rd place in the Cambridgeshire rankings to 2nd with an awesome display in the 800m and getting the fastest time of the day.  

 

Isabella finished 4th in the Cambridgeshire ranks with excellent displays in the High Jump and a good run in the 800m.  

 

Connie Abraham also came away with a 2nd place medal in her age group. She also had an awesome run in the 800m coming 2nd in her race, but in a PB time.