GREAT Britain international Liz Yelling will be in Bury St Edmunds on Monday evening to present the Clubmark to Saint Edmund Pacers.Yelling will make the presentation along with junior international, Matt Barnes-Smith, who is a member of the Bury-based Pacers running club and is a former English Schools 3,000m champion.

By Carl Marston

GREAT Britain international Liz Yelling will be in Bury St Edmunds on Monday evening to present the Clubmark to Saint Edmund Pacers.

Yelling will make the presentation along with junior international, Matt Barnes-Smith, who is a member of the Bury-based Pacers running club and is a former English Schools 3,000m champion.

Clubmark is a cross-sport quality accreditation for clubs with junior sections. It is a national scheme that has been running since 2002, and to date can boast 2,500 accredited clubs spanning 25 sports.

Clubs are recognised for their work with children and young people whilst in the care of adults, inspiring a healthy and active lifestyle while optimising their talents.

Fellow Suffolk running club, Ipswich Harriers, were presented with the Clubmark earlier this year, while Colchester & Tendring AC were given this accolade earlier this month.

Now it is the turn of the Pacers, who have worked hard to promote their junior section in recent years. The late Bert Tarpley was responsible for founding a strong junior group, and more recently Terry Rigby and his colleagues have helped to develop this section, both in training and in competition.

To recognise these efforts, Yelling and Barnes-Smith will attend the Pacers' regular Monday night training session, where they will make the Clubmark presentation. Yelling has recently come to the fore as a marathon runner, and is second in Great Britain only to world record holder Paula Radcliffe in that event. She finished eighth at the London Marathon last April in a personal best time of 2hrs 30mins 44secs.

The experienced Yelling has competed at the Olympic Games, as well as being a medallist at the Commonwealth Games, European and World Cross Country Championships.

Barnes-Smith is well known in Suffolk. He has run for Great Britain in major international cross country events, and is currently studying at Oklahoma State University in America on an Athletic Scholarship.

Also a specialist on the track over 1,500m, 3,000m and 5,000m, Barnes-Smith has returned to Suffolk for the summer break. He lives in Fornham St Martin, near Bury.

Yelling and Barnes-Smith will be at the West Suffolk Arena track from 6.30-7.30pm on Monday. It will be a rare opportunity for the club's young runners to train with and talk to a couple of international stars.