In using training facilities which would not have looked out of place some 50 years ago, Elgin’s athletes certainly know how to prepare for national competitions the hard way.
Children and teenagers at the athletics club may enjoy the fresh air and the long evenings in the summer months, but during the other three seasons of the year, a dirt track on designated flood alleviation ground at Morriston playing fields presents serious challenges for volunteers at the club who try to help youngsters achieve their potential.
Not that the struggle has deterred 14-year-old Holly Whittaker, who won her first English national title in Sheffield earlier this month, taking the gold medal in the 60m hurdles.
The Elgin High School pupil fended off opposition from clubs as far afield as Stockport, Chelmsford, and Bristol to take the win, and simultaneously moved to the top of the UK rankings with her time of 8.97sec.
Commitment means long commutes for the Whittaker family
Both Whittaker and her parents, Nicola and Andrew, know a thing or two about long journeys.
The nearest purpose-built athletics track, in Inverness, is an hour away while the nearest indoor track in Aberdeen is an hour and a half away.
Sheffield’s English Institute of Sport, where the English Indoor Athletics Championships were held last weekend, is close to eight hours by car and, understandably, the Whittakers opted to fly south of the border to reach the steel city.
Whatever the financial cost, the outcome must surely have been worth it.
Whittaker, who holds the British record for the Under 13 girls’ 75m hurdles, now sits second in Scotland’s all-time lists for the Under 15 girls 60m hurdles.
The teenager is certainly racking up the accolades, though she explains that national records couldn’t be further from her mind on the start line.
She said: “The first time I (broke a national record), I had no idea it was a thing – I didn’t know about it.
“The girl who came second at nationals told me about it, then I got back and my dad told me as well.”
The teenager’s competition schedule is nothing if not hectic, with Whittaker having travelled to Grangemouth no less than seven times last season for competitions.
But she enjoys the intensity, and even with the hurdle heights gradually moving up as Whittaker progresses through the age-groups, she says her technique continues to click into place.
She said: “The first race I did over under 15 hurdles went really well, and everything was going well.
“Then, for some reason I just couldn’t do that again, and I really struggled in the last indoor season to cope. But this indoor season it’s been going really well.
“The same thing happened at under 13 – I just kept getting better and better every competition. It just clicked.”
No signs of nerves from Whittaker in Sheffield
As for her championship win in Sheffield, the Elgin athlete didn’t feel any nerves even if she, along with her competitors, endured a long wait in the pre-race call room.
The atmosphere is intimidating for athletes of any age, let alone 13 and 14-year-olds. Simply having a chat with her fellow athletes beforehand, however, seems to be Whittaker’s way of taking her mind off things.
Whittaker said: “Sheffield was really fun, because it was nice to be in a new place. Everyone was really nice and really welcoming. It was really good.
“I really liked meeting new people and making new friends. I obviously have my warm-up and I went through that, but a lot of it I just wing it on the day.
“I like talking to people (before a race). I wasn’t that nervous because I was just trying to remind myself I’ve done it all before, and it’s just the same.
“We were in the call room for a while, so I did start to get nervous and I was just trying to calm myself down.
“In the race, I just kind of forgot everything and just tried to get to the line as quick as I could.”
Lack of facilities for athletes in Moray
It seems simple enough, but preparing for competitions of this scale is not.
Whittaker’s father, Andrew, explained volunteers are doing more than just giving their time to coach athletes at the club.
Huge amounts of effort also goes towards applying for grants to improve facilities, with Moray one of only two council areas of Scotland’s 32 which doesn’t have an outdoor athletics track.
He said: “You kind of feel like the poor relative.
“At the moment, we’ve got the coaches, we’ve got the athletes, and there are lots of officials in the Elgin area as well. But we’re all being held back by the lack of facilities, which is very frustrating.
“We have a dirt track, which Scott Hamilton spends a lot of time looking after, so we can use that in the summer months.
“Without that volunteering time, that wouldn’t be any use to us.
“Other than that, we use a school gym hall during the winter which limits what they can do in terms of technical training.
“The only other thing is travel to the ASV, but it’s an hour and a half either way for us – so it is a problem.”
Efforts being made to establish a track in Elgin
That said, the lack of is not for want of trying. Work may be in the early stages, but there are ambitions for Elgin to have a synthetic track in the years to come.
He added: “There is a working group which is looking to get a full track with an indoor straight.
“We’re in touch with the council to find out whether we can get some land, and then we’ll be working to get some funding for that, but these things aren’t cheap.
“It’s a case of how long that’s going to take.”
In place already, however, is the Chris Anderson grant.
Named after the famous Aberdeen FC director, the scheme exists to offset costs for athletes in the Aberdeen area.
It is certainly a start, but athletes and volunteers in Elgin will be hoping that, in years to come, there won’t be a need to offset travel expenses if they have a track in their hometown.
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