TRAINING sessions at Lough-borough College and Bath Univ-ersity have kept Vale athlete Mike Tarran in touch with international competition.

The Littleton javelin thrower has been plagued by injuries since winning the Midlands AAAs title in 1999.

Serious training resumed 12 months ago and his commitment paid off as he regained his Midlands crown and then earned a place in the England squad.

He was in action at Newport last September when he finished a creditable third in competition with Wales, Ireland, Germany and a select European squad.

There was also victory last year in an open event at Bath when a throw of 64m was enough to see off the opposition.

A similar throw beat off his Midland challengers before he excelled at Bedford where a 71m throw saw him miss out on a gold medal at the Norwich Union AAAs under-23 championships by a mere 9cms.

Tarran has been competing regularly for his club, Birchfield Harriers, who have ensured one of their top throwers received the best possible treatment during his long lay-off.

A visit to Finland to train with a former Swedish champion is in the pipelines. Tarran attempts to put his injury woes behind him and establish himself as one of the country's top throwers.

While Birchfield has been fully supportive during the past three troubled seasons, local companies have also chipped in and The Ivy Inn, Lunch Box, Long Lartin and Ranch Caravan Park have all shown local support.

The locals at the Littletons have also rallied round and a recent bingo and raffle night raised £330 to help fund travel expenses for the international who is now based in Devon.