Featured Athlete: 
Paul Record: Long Jumper and sprinter; Boys' Team Captain and Eddie Heckle Performance Award winner 2004.
 
 

Hi Paul. Tell us something about yourself? Yo! Yo! Yo! My name's Paul Record, I go to Formby High School Sixth Form Centre and live just around the corner in Formby. I'm 16 years old and am currently unemployed (all those nights at sunny Edge Hill make it hard to get an after school job!) 

How long have you been involved in athletics and what got you started? I actually tried to join an athletics club when I was 7, but because of "insurance problems" the best I could do was my 9th birthday. I even wanted to run before that. Apparently - although I find this information slightly spurious - I used to run around gardens, asking my Mum to time me when I was 3! 

It was actually a toss up between go-karting and running, but because of where I live my motor racing career never really took off! 

Tell us about the training you do. There's a lot of it! Mondays is circuit training at Stanley High School, Tuesdays and Thursdays I am at Edge Hill, Wednesdays is weight training at Waterloo Rugby Club and Saturday mornings is often hill or sand-dune training. All of these are performed under the watchful and very capable eyes of a certain Mr Graham Pilkington. 

Has the training changed over time? When I first started I trained twice a week at Christ the King and competed at weekends. This built up over time, first by moving to Edge Hill and then by adding numerous other sessions during the week. 

Training 5 days a week is hard and requires a lot of commitment. Why do you do it? Strange as it may seem, I actually like training. Its a laugh and when you finish you feel you've done something, and you'll improve because you've done it. I also enjoy the social side of training; seeing my mates from athletics has become as much a part of it as 'working hard'.
 

With all this training, do you have time for anything else? When I'm not training or at school, I like to go out with both my school friends and my athletics friends (as I don't see them enough!) I like to go bowling or to the cinema and, though Graham won't be happy to hear this, I play football most weekends. 

Your main events are the long jump and sprints. How do they compare and which do you prefer? I prefer the long jump because its easier to train for and not as tiring to compete in. I also prefer the 100m over the 200m, although I don't seem to get as many opportunities to run the 100. Though I have always been a sprinter and don't train as often for the long jump, I do actually count myself as a jumper because I seem to do better in it. 

What are your PBs? My 100m PB is 11.5, 200m is 23.2 and long jump 6m 38 and I also (occasionally) do the high jump, where I can get 1m 70 (I think). 

What does winning mean to you? Surprisingly little. Though I don't like being beaten, I'd rather run or jump a PB and come 2nd than jump rubbish and win. In big competitions, however, that theory is thrown out the window and winning is the only important thing. 

What about role models. Is there anyone in athletics you really admire or try to emulate? When I was young, I always wanted to copy Linford Christie, but as I've grown older I've become more my 'own person'. I like being different, but still would like to emulate some of the things Linford has done, as I'm still a sprinter at heart.
 

When you look back, what have been the highlights so far? Firstly, my first competition was not big but I was terrified. It was at Accrington, on an old-fashioned cinder track, and in the race before me a runner fell over and didn't look too clever when taken away in the ambulance! I also won my first trophy there. I nearly missed the race and had to put my numbers and spikes on on the starting line! 
In my 2nd season, I was ranked No.1 in the country for under 11s 75 metres and was also ranked in the 100m and the long jump. 
My biggest two highlights, however, occurred last year when I won the long jump in the North of England Indoor Championships and got to the English Schools and even though I jumped badly I still enjoyed being there. 

What are your ambitions for the future? I don't really know. I would like to go back to the English Schools in 2005 and I'd also like to break 11 seconds and 7 metres pretty soon too! After that, I don't know. I know the day will come when I won't train with the same group of athletes any more, when we all go our separate ways to university etc. 

Anything else you'd like to share? I would like to thank .... everyone, but especially Graham and my mum. Graham for running me into the ground at least twice a week for the past seven years and helping me enjoy the sport; and my mum for running me all over the country pretty much every weekend and most nights of the week. 

Thanks. Paul holds 4 club sprint records and is the only club member in recent years to have won a Young Athletes League 'Athlete of the Match' award twice.

Other interviews:
John Burnett, Sam Moran, Graham Pilkington, Helen Taylor, Rick Bowker, Adam Chandley, Sue Cooper, Paul Record Rob Berry Rhea Ellis Norman Marshall Eddie Simpkins James Armstrong