Athletics: Harriers plan Marl Pits future

At the time it was laid it was hailed as the best track in the north. It was opened to a fanfare with Ron Hill running in the inaugural meeting.

Ron tells a story in his book 'The Long Hard Road' of how he was invited to run on what was labelled an 'all weather track'. He came along expecting a tartan track and as he was running his track races in bare feet at that time, he didn't have any shoes with him.

It proved to be a painful experience. Ron commented after his recent run at the Rossendale Half Marathon that he could not believe that the same track was still in existence after all these years.

Now the Harriers want to update their facilities, although they concede that it will not be easy to raise the necessary money, even in today's lottery funded society. The club has an open mind about the best way to proceed but Nigel Gotts set the ball rolling by organising an open meeting which was held at the beginning of the month. The meeting was convened to discuss plans for a new running track at the Marl Pits site. The scheme would involve the Harriers being one of a number of partners with plans also set to include football, netball and rugby facilities as well as an Olympic sized swimming pool.

In a recent development, there has been an approach by representatives of Alder Grange County High School, a secondary school located 800 metres from Marl Pits.

Alder Grange is planning a new Sports Hall as part of a community based scheme and is keen to incorporate a running track into the plan with the Harriers playing their part in the development of new talent.

With the cost expected to be around £1.5m, lottery funding would need to be secured to make it viable. Club representatives went to a preliminary meeting at the school on Monday and architects will be working on the plans this week. It is hoped that the development could receive early approval, allowing building work to start as early as next financial year.