Banbury Harriers' Emily Thompson switched the mud of cross-country running for the bright lights of Birmingham's Barclaycard Arena on Saturday 14th February, but continued her winning streak to claim the Gold medal in the Midlands Indoor Championships. She claimed the regional under-17 Women's 800m title with a commanding victory, to repeat her performance at last year's under-15 championships.
In her first competition as an Under-17, she lined up against the region's top 800m specialists, many of whom were a year or more older. She eased through her qualifying heat earlier in the afternoon with a well-paced win over Birmingham-based rival Carianne Robertson, in a time of 2 minutes 21 seconds. The final brought her head-to-head with Leicestershire 800m champion, Laura Mullin, whose best last season was two seconds quicker than that of Thompson, and Holly Bankes of Gloucestershire, twice the outdoor Midlands 800m champion.
Thompson took the initiative from the gun, setting a searing first 200m pace of just 31 seconds. The second of the arena's tight 200m laps saw Thompson build a significant lead as the rest of the field found it impossible to stay with the pace. With Thompson completing 400m in just 64 seconds, the pace had to slow but Bankes and Mullin were unable to make inroads into Thompson's 30 metre lead. An impressive final lap ensured that the rest of the field were left jostling for the runners-up positions as Thompson crossed the line in 2 min 15 seconds, with Bankes claiming Silver and Mullin the Bronze.
Will Knox
