Over 220 athletes turned out to compete in the annual carnival, hoping to place in the top four of each event to earn a spot in the Zone team.

Co-ordinator Mavis Godbar was checking the mercury every hour as temperatures soared to 33 degrees.

“At 35 degrees we start to get worried but there were no incidents this year,” Godbar said.

“Everything ran really well.”

Godbar said that numbers were down a bit on previous years, although that was expected.

“When it is not an Olympic or Commonwealth Games year we always see numbers drop a bit.”

“When the sport is on the TV and everyone is talking about it, the numbers go back up.”

Organisers are expecting a boom in numbers next year as Australia is already preparing to send a strong contingent to the Commonwealth Games in Glasgow.

The Zone team will compete at the regional championships in Lismore at the start of next February.

The top qualifiers from that event will then go on to compete at Homebush in the State Championships.

Little A’s cater for athletes from three years old through to 17.

Anyone wishing to be part of next season can contact them on the Tamworth Little Athletics website.