Competing on the same bill as world class Athletes, Charlie Dobson had been invited to attend the Great North City Games as part of a team of U19 athletes who finished in the top four places in the finals of the Senior Men’s 100m and 200m at the English Schools Championships event held in Birmingham in July this year.

For this year’s spectacle, founder and Chair of the Great North Run/City Games, Brendan Foster, was keen to invite representatives of the next generation to gain further competition experience, and approached the English Schools Athletics Association to provide a team.  Many of GB’s best athletes competed at English School events on their journey to international athlete.

Friday afternoon, and with work still going on around them to get the venue ready for the big day, saw all the English school’s athletes compete in a time trial over the unusual and rarely run 150m, to select the competitors for the A and B finals. Dobson ran a strong heat recording 15.89s and with it a place in the A string final.

Saturday lunchtime and drawn in an outside lane, Charlie was inches from the crowds and TV cameras, but maintained his composure to run a confident race to finish in a good 2nd place – beaten once again by his English Schools rival, Jamaican athlete, Romell Glave (Surrey)

“It was a good atmosphere, I didn’t really feel nervous, just excited. The race felt a lot longer because there was no bend in the track which I am used to running plus I was more aware of the other runners because the track was so loud, as it was built up on a platform. I really enjoyed the whole experience, staying in the same hotel and warming up alongside the elite athletes.”