Comeback trail

Athletics:

JET-HEELED teenager Adam Howard will in many ways be glad to see the back of 2011.

And that’s despite taking the Red Rose under-17s title with a race to spare and leading the way in the Oldham Schools Cross-Country Championships for the fifth successive time.
He will remember this year for the virus that kept him sidelined for almost five months.

The Waterhead Academy pupil suddenly started struggling to finish runs at the end of March and, after hospital tests, did not set foot on a track until mid-August.

He explained: “It was so frustrating, in fact it was mad when I look back now. I had been running six-kilometre cross-country courses without any problems, but when I reported back for pre-season on the track everything changed.

“It got to the point where I could not finish two laps on a running track so obviously I knew something was wrong.

“I ended up in hospital and it turned out I had a virus, as well as an allergy to dust mites. The medical advice was to have a complete break and not be tempted to return to running too soon.

“To miss out on something that is a huge part of my life was an awful

feeling. It just did not feel right to me.”

After what must have felt like a lifetime, Howard made a summer comeback, though it didn’t go fully according to plan: “As is often the case when you have been out for a while, I picked up an injury.

“It was a knock on my hip and even though it wasn’t too serious and I could train, it wasn’t the ideal way to return.”

Currently overcoming a knee injury with regular physiotherapy, Howard is buoyed by recent his recent

successes at Red Rose and school level and is looking forward to hitting the ground running in 2012.

“Those victories were important as I am starting to feel good again,” he added. “I will have a break over Christmas and hopefully be raring to go in New Year.”