Ribble Valley AC member Leigh Lennon was one of eight athletes who attended the Commonwealth Games as part of the ‘On Camp With Kelly’ scheme.

In the second of her reports for the Lancashire Telegraph, she describes leading a training session for local athletes and how it felt to watch two fellow OCWK athletes compete for England in the 800m final...

Monday October 11 was an amazing day! We had the chance to lead a training a session for about 130 Indian athletes and children who were all so enthusiastic and eager to get on with things. We split them all into groups according to their different ages and abilities so that we could meet their needs. Each session was different and challenging as some of the athletes had never done things like this before.

Charlotte Best, Rowena Cole and I were looking after the more experienced athletes. They were very keen and really appreciated the knowledge and advice we were passing on to them and wanted to take it on board so that they could put these things into practice in the future. We did a few circuits with them, showed them stretches and did a training (running) session which they all loved.

Some of the Indian athletes got the chance to do television interviews with either BBC, ITV or Sky which was most probably a great and new experience for them. I think they all went home with smiles on their faces which is fantastic.

In the evening we went to the stadium to watch the women’s 800m final where both Emma Jackson and Hannah England were competing. It was the most exciting race to see especially when there are two people in the race that you know and are part of ‘On Camp with Kelly’.

I was shouting so loud for them both it was unreal, I got goose bumps watching them run because I felt so close to the race and to the girls in it.

Emma Jackson came fourth with a new PB and Hannah England fifth.

They both ran great races and I am proud to say I know them and watched that race for real.

In the men’s steeplechase was England’s Stuart Stokes who I know quite well and was quite nervous for as soon as I saw him get onto the track.

I was cheering him on all the way, he came home in fifth place which is great and he seemed really happy when I saw him on the big screen.

It’s just absolutely overwhelming being in Delhi to actually watch the Games and seeing people you know compete is amazing.