On Thursday 22nd June 2017 the South West Athletics Academy Team were up bright and early ready to set up the Portable Athletics Track at the Matford Centre in Exeter. The portable track was being set up for The Blue Light Day which is an event for the disabled community and their carers. There were many inclusive activities and workshops being held throughout the day which involved information such as, healthy living and first aid. All the exhibitors/stalls were all at the event to promote the same values, Be Active, Be Safe, Be Healthy.

At 8am the team were busily setting up the track and getting everything ready for everyone to arrive. It wasn’t long before we had our first two competitors ready to race each other on the track. In lane 2 we had Sally the Police Woman Mascot and in lane 3 we had Pat, her trusty Police Dog. Both runners were getting quite competitive about the race ahead but the question was, who would be the winner? Sally had the speed but was it enough to keep up with her four legged furry friend. Sally had a fast start however it wasn’t enough. Pat the police dog picked up speed and ran straight past sally to become the winner of the first race of the day.

Throughout the day we had lots of individuals and groups taking part in different activities being run on the track. It was really great to see how many people enjoyed running on the track because of its bright colours and soft texture. One teacher from a school said “Some of our pupils will never run, not even on sports day and to see them running on the athletics track all day is amazing to see”.

 

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