Steve Cram to open Scarborough’s new Bramcote Athletics running track and sports field

A state-of-the-art running track and sports field, close to Filey Road, is to be opened by guest of honour Steve Cram during a day of action and festivities on Saturday September 9.

The new oval track covers 400m, with a 110m hurdle straight and an all-weather synthetic surface that is certified for national competitions. The site also has facilities for field disciplines such as long jump, high jump and shot put, plus changing rooms and a viewing area.

A collaboration between Scarborough College and local firm Broadland Properties, the facility is on the site of the former Bramcote Prep School playing fields, which belongs to the college. Named Bramcote Athletics, it will be shared between the college and the community.

Richard Guthrie, a director at Broadland Properties, said: “For youth training, Bramcote Athletics will be up there with any facility in the UK. Everyone in the district who is keen on athletics will be able to train here on our doorstep.

"I have every hope that in 10 to 15 years we will see athletes who have charted their development in Scarborough competing on the international stage.”

A timetable for shared use, which aims to get as many people as possible training on the track, will be overseen by athletics development officer Zach Harrop, who has been recruited to promote athletics within the community.

A former coach at Millfield School in Somerset, Harrop has coached British athletes to European Junior Championships level.

“The track will be available for public use seven days a week outside school hours, through local running clubs,” said Harrop.

“There will also be open sessions when anybody can book to use the track. It will initially be certified to host sprints, hurdles, endurance competitions and long jump, as well as hosting school sports competitions.”

Guthrie added: “It’s significant that the track is certified by World Athletics, because if a record is broken here then it stands officially. It also makes a big difference in terms of attracting regional or national competitions. The surface is polymeric rubber, with elastic underlayers to reduce fatigue and risk of injury. It was built by S&C Slatter, which installed the track in Birmingham for last year’s Commonwealth Games.”

Also involved in training at the track is Julian Reid, a Jamaica-born British long jump and triple jump athlete who is based in Birmingham and has been travelling to North Yorkshire to coach young athletes this summer.

Everyone is welcome at the launch event on September 9, when an action-packed day culminates in a formal opening ceremony at 3pm, followed by the so-called ‘Scarborough Mile’. In the evening a dinner and dance will be held in a marquee at the track.

Steve Cram CBE, who won Olympic silver in the 1500m in 1984, broke three records within 19 days in 1985 and notched up numerous other medals during his illustrious career, will be guest of honour throughout the day and evening.

Activities – all of which are free to enter in advance – begin at 10am with a children’s octathlon, encompassing 60, 100, 200 and 400m distances, plus long jump, shot put, ‘turbo javelin’ and standing triple jump.

Teams of four (school years three and four or five and six) will take part, with each child doing two elements.

A junior and adult heptathlon follows at midday, open to teams of four (aged 11 to 15, 16 to 20, 20-plus and 35-plus), with 100, 200, 400 and 800m runs, plus high jump, long jump and shot put.

At 3.15pm Steve Cram will fire the starter gun for the Scarborough Mile.

“There has been excellent take-up, including for the Scarborough Mile,” says Mr Guthrie, who has signed up for the Mile himself.

“We wanted to do a mile rather than the more usual 1500m partly because it is almost exactly four times round, but also because the four-minute mile was broken on a track known as Iffley Road, which is almost an anagram of Filey Road.

“We’re excited that Steve Cram is coming. His legacy was middle distance running, along with Seb Coe and Steve Ovett, in that golden era for British athletics.

"Some of the records they set have only recently been broken. I hope he will help inspire a new generation of athletes here in Scarborough.”

To sign up for the daytime team events or the Scarborough Mile, or to buy tickets for the Bramcote Athletics Gala Dinner, go to scarboroughcollege.co.uk/bramcote-athletics-track