Two youngsters from Biggleswade AC were Brum-tastic in the England Athletics Indoor Championships. It was a truly international event at the National Indoor Arena in Birmingham with teams from Norway and Ireland also competing as guests in the championshi

Two youngsters from Biggleswade AC were Brum-tastic in the England Athletics Indoor Championships.

It was a truly international event at the National Indoor Arena in Birmingham with teams from Norway and Ireland also competing as guests in the championships.

Alice Middleton had two very competitive rounds to try and get to the final in the under-20 women's 400m.

In the opening heat, she was drawn against the current UK junior champion Megan Beezley.

Alice was not perturbed and ran a steady race to come third and get into the semi-finals.

It was a different matter in the semis as coming off the bend in the first lap of two and then breaking from lanes, she found herself boxed in and was also tripped.

She managed to keep her feet but lost a lot of ground.

Her sixth place meant she did not proceed further, despite setting a new club record and personal best time.

Alice has another opportunity to impress in the indoor season with the British University Sports Association (BUSA) athletics championships in Sheffield in March.

Tom Worboys, in the under-17 men's 400m, was competing at the venue for the first time.

Despite it being only his second indoor competition, he was very relaxed and looked forward to this opportunity.

Tom was drawn in the first of three heats, so had little opportunity to assess the opposition and just had to run his own race.

He finished in third and had a wait to see if he would get through as a fastest qualifier.

Although it was not to be, Tom improved on his own personal best and indoor club record by more than two seconds which is a remarkable achievement.

* An international hurdler is coming to Sandy this weekend.

Julie Pratt is leading a county squad day on Saturday at the Sandy Sports Centre in Engayne Avenue.

She has an impressive national and international pedigree after bursting on to the athletics scene.

Julie was British Junior Athlete in 1998 and just one year later became European under-23 championship silver medallist over the 100m hurdles.

In 2000 she won the U23 international hurdles meeting at Hexham and made the 100m hurdles final in both the 2002 and 2006 Commonwealth Games.

When not training to compete for her country or club, Woodford Green and Essex Ladies, Julie passes on her knowledge and experience as a member of the coaching staff for the England athletics hurdles squad.