YOUNG athletes from the Forest area were in scintillating form at the Gloucestershire County Athletics Championships recently, while competitors from across the UK took on the annual Whitebrook Windup.

The eighth staging of the Wind-Up attracted 100 entries for the 10k and 29 for the half marathon.

Hallam Girardet won a very fast half marathon in 1hr 33mins 48secs while Luke Grey won the 10k in 43mins 3secs.

This year’s event, sponsored by Neil Hesman from the Village Web Smith Tintern, coincided with the bluebell season, and teams from as far afield as London and Birmingham followed the picturesque course on a cold but dry day.

More than 30 marshals and helpers together with St John’s Ambulance helped to create a festive atmosphere and provide safe running conditions on the course.

Due to the all-terrain nature of the course, this year’s event was also promoted as a fell run.

The scenic course takes competitors along the banks of the river Wye and up through some of the Wye Valley’s most unspoiled woodland. But it’s not called the Wind-Up for nothing - the climb on each lap is nearly 600ft. Full results at www.Whitebrookwindup.com.

Meanwhile the Forest of Dean Athletic Club juniors kicked off their track and field season with a fantastic set of results at the Gloucestershire County Championships.

The club now has two junior athletes in the top ten in the UK for their age categories in throwing events.

In the under 13s girls Grace Clarke finished 1st in the 200m in 30.8s, 1st in the discus with 11.28m and 4th in the long jump with 3.81m whilst Alena Jones came 5th in the 100m in 17.3s.

The under 13s boys saw Aron Asher finish 4th in the 200m final in 30.2s and 2nd in the javelin with 14.19m whilst Sam Gallagher came 2nd in the shot putt with 6.02m and 3rd in the long jump with 3.95m.

Huge success for the under 15s girls’ team saw Sophie Harvey finish 5th in the long jump with 3.93m, Leigh Phillips 6th in the 100m in 14.4s, Maddie Francis 3rd in the discus with 15.69m and Maisy Harvey 1st in the hammer with 37.17m, beating her own club record, with Mia Bishop 2nd with 28.00m.

Meanwhile in the boys under 15s Cameron Francis finished 4th in the high jump with 1.45m, Dylan Menhennet 1st in the hammer with 33.56m, 1st in the shot putt with 8.88m and 2nd in the discus with 21.14m, and Charlie Roberts 4th in the javelin with 16.06m.

In the under 17s Hannah Kolic finished 1st in the hammer with 36.82m, Emma Clarke 3rd in the 300m in 46.7s and Ed Leech 3rd in the 1500m. Melissa Kolic competed in the under 20s age category finishing 1st in the hammer with 33.22m, 2nd in the discus with 19.79m and 3rd in the shot putt with 6.23m.