Herts Phoenix and Presdales athlete, Laura Wake, competed for Hertfordshire in the 2008 English Schools Combined Events championships at Alexander Stadium in Birmingham last weekend.  In this competition, Laura was up against most of the best U20 age group heptathletes in the country and finished in a very creditable 8th place out of a total of 32 competitors.

The 53rd running of the St Albans Relays was blessed with glorious weather.  The turnout in the men’s race was slightly down on previous years, probably due to the clash with the first fixture of the Chingford League.

For many years members of the club have organised training camps abroad at Easter time, in the main in Portugal.  In 2009 we intend running another training camp in the Monte Gordo/Villa Real de St. Antonio area of Portugal on the Eastern Algarve.  A number of our athletes and coaches went there in 2008 and found the local facilities excellent and saw that many international athletes were also using this area as their training base.

There was a superb end to the season for the young athletes of Herts phoenix AC last weekend at the Jarman Park Stadium in Hemel Hempstead where they won the Eastern Young Athletes League Plate Final. Having made the final in the last qualifying position the team were determined to show that with a full complement they could perform well and so it proved to be. Winning two of the individual age categories, the U15 boys and the U17 girls, the team went on to claim the overall trophy winning the match by 14 points from Basildon.

The club has secured the use of Ridlins Stadium, Stevenage between 11.30 and 1pm each Saturday from 4th October this Autumn. This is particularly so that the Hammer and Discus throwers can continue to throw over the winter period as this is not posible at either Wodson or Gosling. In addition to this other training groups who wish to use this facility are most welcome - it is a big track area with room for several groups so the more the merrier. If you are a coach then please feel free to come over and once we know how many are coming we will endeavour to ensure that everyone gets a suitable area to train in on an equitable basis.  If you are an athlete then speak to your coach to find out if he or she intends to use this facility. There will be a track fee of £2.50 for each session.  For any further information please contact Jon Humphries on This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it