A QUARTET of athletes are preparing for major competitions over the next two weeks.

Daniel Joyce, Kate Smith, Peter Barclay, and Darren Towart will all represent Tynedale Harriers on the national stage.

Daniel and Kate will compete in the English Championships in Bedfordshire this weekend.

Fifteen year-old Daniel will take on the 800m in the U17 age group, just weeks after he set two new personal best times at the North East Grand Prix at Gateshead.

Kate, 14, who earned a third place at the Northern Schools’ Inter-County Athletics Championships in June, will compete in the 75m hurdles.

Fellow hurdler Darren Towart is also in the middle of a busy shedule, as he prepares for the forthcoming British Masters Championships in Birmingham next week.

And in September, Darren will line-up in the World Masters Championships in Malaga Spain, alongside club mate Peter Sunderland.

Peter, who will take on the 100m and 200m in the 55s and over category in Malaga, is carefully working his way back to full fitness following an achilles injury.

He said: “This is an opportunity of a lifetime and I want to be be as fit as I possibly can.

“I am doing plenty of weight training and I feel as though I’m on schedule, just gradually working towards the event. I am really looking forward to it.”

Darren competed in a British Masters Grand Prix in London last weekend, and said he was looking forward to what lies ahead.

He added: “I’ve won a gold before, but that was at javelin, now I want to try and go for it on the track.

“We are all working hard. We support each other in training and we have incredible facilities here at Wentworth Leisure Centre in Hexham.”

Darren said coach Kirk Barclay was a big part of the set up at Wentworth, and also praised the facility’s newly-improved running track, which has been re-marked and refurbished.

Speaking about the track, Hexham’s Coun. Cath Homer, a Northumberland County Council cabinet member with responsibility for leisure said: “The Wentworth athletics track is an important local venue used by schools, the wider community, and a variety of sporting clubs including Tynedale Harriers.

“The upgrade work has helped to keep the track up to international standards which is important for all those who use it, but especially so for those who compete in Wentworth’s annual decathlon to get qualification points for top international events.

“This work on the track, and purchase of new equipment is just one of a number of projects that Active Northumberland is undertaking in the coming months to upgrade sports and leisure facilities for our residents.”