A couple of the Isle of Man’s leading athletes were in brilliant form off-island over the weekend.

Distance runner Corrin Leeming and sprinter Carla Teece impressed on both sides of the Irish Sea when competing in Greater Manchester and Northern Ireland respectively.

Leeming had been entered in Sunday’s Isle of Man Half-Marathon in Ramsey and for this week’s No Rest for the Wicked series, but opted instead to gain more experience of high-level competition on the track.

He contested the 5,000 metres B race at the British Miler's Club Grand Prix meeting at Trafford on Saturday, completely justifying his decision with a fantastic run.

The Island Games gold medallist ran a brilliant time of 14 minutes 23.6 seconds, taking almost 20s off his previous best set last year, finishing fourth in the race against very good opposition.

A week is a long time in athletics. The previous weekend he had a rare below-par performance when he ran outside 15 minutes at the Northern League match, feeling tired after the Island Games. But he proved on Saturday that he is now fully recovered.

Teece, who has spent the summer setting one personal best after another, did it again on the same day.

Running in the Northern Ireland Championships 100 metres in Belfast, she ran a time of 12.28 seconds in the heat to qualify for the final.

In the final, running against senior athletes even though she is an under-20, she placed fourth in a time of 12.18 seconds, taking three-hundredths of a second off her pb which she set in the Island Games final in Orkney. Both times were wind-legal.

It's been a great season for two athletes at opposite ends of the distance spectrum - many congratulations to both.

DAVID GRIFFITHS