COLCHESTER Harriers duo Joy Ogunleye and Rebecca Jeggo rubbed shoulders with some of the UK's best athletics talent when they competed at the Great North City Games.

The event was held on a purpose-built track at the iconic Gateshead quayside.

This included some of the top athletes from the UK as well as the Diamond League circuit, with whom the Harriers pair stayed at the same hotel as on the Friday.

They enjoyed dinner with GB sprinter Richard Kilty, before meeting others including Mo Farah and Greg Rutherford.

Both Colchester athletes qualified for the event based on their performance at the English Schools Championships in July and competed over the unusual distance of 150m straight.

In the first heat, Jeggo finished second in a time of 17.90 seconds, qualifying for the A final later in the day.

Ogunleye was third in heat two, qualifying for the B final with a time of 18.28s.

After a short turnaround and in worsening weather conditions, Ogunleye improved her time to 18.27s to finish second in the B race.

Later that afternoon, after what was a very wet and nervy start line and on the third attempt after an athlete disqualification, Jeggo finished third in her final in an improved time of 17.76s.

Both athletes then travelled to Bedford for the UK final of the Youth Development League.

The two top teams from the North, the Midlands and South of England premier divisions contested the UK title and the right to travel to Europe to represent their country. Ogunleye and Jeggo were part of their higher claim Shaftesbury Barnet squad.

In the 100m, Jeggo took A string gold in a time of 12.22s, with Ogunleye also taking gold in the B race in 12.14s.

Jeggo also competed in the 200m, again taking A string gold in a time of 25.01s.

Both athletes also ran in the 4x100m relay, running strong legs helping to give Shaftesbury the lead off the last bend and ultimately silver in the race.