HUNDREDS of aspiring young athletes took part in the Poole Festival of Running on Sunday.

The annual event, staged in Poole Park, saw boys and girls compete in a series of minithons over a mile and one-and-a-half miles.

Parkstone-based double-Olympian Liz Yelling, who ran in the 2004 Athens and 2008 Beijing marathons, was one of the official race starters.

She was joined by actress and impressionist Debra Stephenson, who lives in Poole, and Poole councillor Judy Butt.

Emily Jeffries finished first in the girls’ eight to nine-year-old’s minithon, in which a field of 50 took part. And in the boys’ equivalent, Sam Ricketts ran first in a field of 55.

Grace Copeland landed the spoils in the girls’ 10 to 11-year-old’s minithon over a mile, while Jed Skilton did likewise in the boys’ 10 to 11-year-old’s race.

And in the 12 to 14-year-old’s minithons, Bess Bickel came first in the girls’ race and Regan Cooper headed home a field of 39 in the boys’ race.