Rachael Franklin continued her fine season by taking victory in the women’s 1,500m race at the North of England Track and Field Championships on Saturday.

She was among four Isle of Man athletes taking part in the Manchester-based meeting.

Western AC’s Rhys Owen produced a stellar performance in the under-20 400m, grabbing bronze and a new personal best of 51.1 seconds.

Next up was the Manx Harriers’ Alan Corlett in the senior 5,000m final which took place in very hot conditions.

Corlett ran a gutsy race to claim a brilliant bronze medal and was rewarded with a great new pb of 15 min 2 sec, as he edges ever closer to breaking that sub-15 minute mark .

Stephen Garrett was very unlucky with his heats in the men’s 1,500m and was only run out of a qualifying spot by a couple of seconds clocking a time of 4 min 6sec. This time shows how much he has improved as he found this run disappointing.

Last up to end a great opening day of the two-day championships was Franklin.

She had a point to prove in the 1,500m after claiming second place last year, a result she has never bettered at these championships.

Rachael went to the front of the race from the gun and did not let anyone past her as she attempted to run a qualifying time for the British championships later this month.

The Skanco-supported athlete did this to secure the North of England title in a time of 4 min 23 sec, which was just short of her PB.

On day two Rhys Owen started off in the under-20 800m final. The race turned into a very tactical one, ending with a last 200m burn up.

Owen felt a bit disappointed with how the race had gone, but another sub-two-minute time and making a championship final is a great job in his first year of being in the u20 age group.

Franklin was next on track in the women’s 5,000m final.

The Manx Harrier had a great battle for third place and was rewarded with a bronze and a new pb of 16 min 42.01 sec in very hot conditions.

Rachael wishes to thank Skanco Business Systems Ltd for its support.