TOM'S BEEN GUNNING DOWN THOSE RECORDS

HE WON'T even be a teenager until November 15 but Tom Marsden is already into the world of record breaking on the athletics track. He might be a member of Portsmouth Football Club's Under-12 squad and has visited Barcelona with them. But his passion for running has meant a crackle of anticipation each time he has awaited the starting gun this summer.

He has ended the season with the Sussex Under-13 800metres record, three club records '” 600m, 800m, 1,000m '” and two championship-best performances to his credit at 800metres.

He possesses the county 800metres record after this year breaking three times the club record. His 2min 18.5sec in the National Young Athletes League in late June was trimmed down to 2min 14.4 by August to take the county record.

His modest 2min 22.2sec in July was the best the Sussex Under-13 Championships had seen and a week later his 2min 29.6 was enough to set a Worthing Area Schools Championship-best.

In May, he set a new club 600metres record of 1min 41.2, which he successfully attacked in late August with 1min 40.1sec.

And he pared down his best 1,000metres time from 3min 05.1sec in June to 3min 03.3 in July, then 3min 00.5sec this month in the Sussex Under-13 League Final at Crawley, which was a League season's-best.

Tom commented: "I've just been taking each race as it comes, after I'd gone for a 1,500m record at Hemel Hempstead earlier this season and it hadn't happened. My main event is the 800m. That's what I focus on."