After competing in the ISA London South Regionals, Bonnie and I qualified to represent our region at the ISA Nationals on June 17th which was held at Birmingham Alexandra Stadium. I was filled with both excitement because this was the venue where the Commonwealth Games took place but also with nerves to compete against some of the best athletes from all over the country.
Bonnie and I set off early at 6:30am to avoid the traffic and we got to the stadium with plenty of time to spare. We explored the venue and got familiar with everything before our events. We loved choosing our Nationals Jersey which had our names on the back.
We both did a few laps to warm up and collected our numbers and got ready for our events. Bonnie’s ball throw was first followed straight after by Y4 girls 600m running. Bonnie performed really well in both events being placed 4th for ball throw missing the bronze medal by only a narrow margin with a PB of 20.17. Bonnie had a really strong start for the 600m run but unfortunately lost her position at the last lap but still did very well getting a PB of 2.29.
Y4 boys 600m run followed after this event. I lined up at the start position with some very tall boys. I had butterflies in my stomach. However after exchanging a few good luck wishes to encourage each other, we set off at the gun pop ‘go’.
I focussed on my usual pace of running. Few metres into the run I realised I was in the lead. I tried my best to maintain my pace and was over the moon when I finished at 1st position winning the ISA National gold medal for 600m with a PB of 1.59 , London West placed 2nd with silver and a bronze for East Anglia all getting a PB for their performances.
I felt really honoured when I received my medal from a Team GB Triple Jump Olympic athlete from 1988. It was so cool to meet someone who had been in the Olympics!
Bonnie and I had a great day and on the way back home, we played lots of car games and had a lot of fun.
Alec W, Y4