Athletics stalwart outpaces rivals in title race

DONCASTER Athletic Club secretary Barry Barnes left rivals trailing in his tracks in the voting to win a prestigious regional award.

Barnes, who is a member of the club’s coaching set-up, will receive the England Athletics Yorkshire and Humberside region Commitment to Club Development award.

“It is obviously a great honour and I am delighted to win the award,” said Barnes last night.

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“I see the award as a recognition of a lot of hard work put in by a lot of people over the years to get the club to where it is today.”

Barnes was one of the driving forces in the delivery of the state-of-the art athletics facility which opened at the Lakeside Sports Complex in January.

When he was secretary of the Stainforth Athletic Club, he helped push through an amalgamation of the two clubs, along with his Doncaster Plant Works AC counterpart Bob Ward, in 1997.

“We both realised, as did other people such as Stainforth chairman Dave Churchill, that the town would have a better chance of a new track if we pooled our resources and there was only one club in the town,” he said .

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“There were many disappointments along the way but I was determined to keep fighting for a new track. Thanks to The Star I was able to keep the issue in the public domain and keep pressure on the various bodies who could make it happen.

“Mayor Martin Winter, who has also been very supportive of the club, also deserves a lot of the credit for the council delivering the new track and it was a dream come true when it opened earlier this year.”