Two glorious days, 480 athletes, seventy eight officials and 12 hours of non stop competition.

It was no surprise that county administrator Keith May and championship director Ray Hopkins both heaved a sigh relief and headed off to a local hostelry for a meal, a pint and a relaxed evening after the final event of the recent Sussex Track and Field championships.

Such an event involves a tremendous amount of planning and help over a period of several months and both knew they had to return to the Crawley track the next day to clear up and cart away all the equipment needed to make the whole event go without a hitch.

Hopkins said: "We were lucky with the weather for the second successive year and we were well served by the 70 or so officials, many of whom have been on duty for two solid days."

The championships play an important part in the development of young athletes in Sussex.

"Many get their first taste of good class competition by competing in county championship events," added Ray.

"We had nearly 500 athletes in action, many competing two, three or even four times and a few even more. That's not bad for a county of our size."

Even so, the total turnout was some 40 athletes fewer than last year although this might have been because Easter was later this year.

Added Ray: "I still hear stories that athletes are a little overawed by the thought of competing in championships and I think we still have some little work to do to persuade them it is nowhere near as daunting as they may think.

"We managed to promote the championships without a sponsor this year and will be working hard in trying to secure a suitable sponsor for next year's event."

What both Keith and Ray agree is that the championships are held far too early in the season and the sooner the programme is changed nationally the better for athletics.

For most competitors the championships should be the major event of the season and a date in late June or July would be far more suitable and enable all the athletes to be better prepared.

Keith's feelings about the standard are borne out by the number of athletes who were amongst the top performers in the Country at Championship weekend.

As the top hammer thrower in the country it was not surprising that Mick Jones from Crawley saw his near record breaking effort of 73.78m at the top of all the county winners throughout the country.

Pole vaulter Christian Linskey, from Broadbridge Heath, soared over 4.80m to take the Sussex crown, a height that was not bettered by any other British vaulter that weekend.

The third Sussex athlete to better all other efforts was not even a senior.

Brighton & Hove's Claire Smithson won the under-20 discus title with 47.77m, a distance that no senior in the Country could match, while her shot putting effort of 13.54m was only bettered by the winners of the Essex and Kent championships.

Another Brighton and Hove under-20, Samantha Redd, who threw 44.59m to win the javelin title, was only deprived of the number one spot by Medway international Kirsty Morrison in the Kent championships and Kirsty is a 55-metre thrower.

Horsham Blue Star's Clare Milborrow's 100 metres Hurdles clocking of 14.08sec was only beaten by international Julie Pratt at the Essex championships while Lewes Tertiary's Tim Bayley's brilliant Sussex 400 metre record time of 47.77sec was eased into second place nationally by international Neil Jenkins' 46.91sec clocking in the North East championships.

Tim had pushed reigning champion Alistair Gordon (Worthing) so hard in the 200 metres that Alistair's winning time of 21.73sec. was only bettered by winners at the Kent and Essex championships.

Alistair's Worthing club-mate Emma Perkins' exceptional high jump clearance of 1.73m in the under-17 age group was of such quality that just the Surrey and Yorkshire senior winners bettered her effort.