AT the end of a long and arduous day, Rory Howorth’s hopes of winning his first England vest all came down to just over two minutes of running.

The 14-year-old Team Bath athlete, from Hilperton, knew he needed to run a fast 800m to boost his points tally and force his way onto the podium.

It was his speciality event, so that gave him an edge over his rivals in the junior boys’ pentathlon at the English Schools’ Combined Events Championships in Exeter.

But having already tackled the 80m hurdles, shot, long jump and high jump disciplines, Howorth wasn’t entirely feeling fresh and bouncing with energy.

However, Howorth clocked a superb PB of two minutes 0.92 seconds in a brave solo effort.

It still wasn’t enough to guarantee him a medal as he then had to sit and watch the top eight athletes go in the final heat and hope that no-one pulled out a similarly big performance.

“It was really tense as they went out very hard on the first lap in the final 800m but that cost them as they died on the second lap,” explained Howorth.

When the final points were tallied up Howorth’s championship record run had given him the slender margin of 23 points over Zachary Elliott in fourth.

“It was just a mad, mad day as I never thought I had a chance of getting a bronze medal and to also win my first England vest is a dream come true,” said Howorth.

“But it was so tough and I am very tired now.”

Howorth will now travel to Athlone, Ireland, in December for the Home Countries Indoor Multi Events Championships.

Also at Exeter, training partner Jenna Blundell, from Staverton, finished 10th in the inter girls’ heptathlon including a PB in the 200m.