Get me to the church and Commonwealth Games on time!

Orkney athlete Taylah Spence will be sprinting to ensure she gets to the church on time for her big day on Saturday – then just 48 hours later is setting off to compete for Team Scotland at the Commonwealth Games in Birmingham!

What a whirlwind time for the 23-year-old from Dounby, but she is taking it all in her stride.

“I’m not nervous for either actually, just very excited and feeling so incredibly grateful,” the midwife said. “I’m not going to lie, it’s crazy busy with working full time, training and trying to get organised for the wedding but it’s not a bad situation to be in, I wouldn’t change it!”

Fiance Jack Paterson is feeling pretty chuffed that Taylah’s first competition as a “Paterson” is going to the Commonwealth Games!

“I don’t know what they’ll announce in the stadium – I assume it’ll be Spence as that’s what’ll be on all the forms.”

Taylah will be competing for the first time at the Games in the 4x100m relay team alongside Alisha Rees, Rebecca Matheson, Sarah Malone and Heather Paton.

Earlier this year Taylah marked her Scotland debut in spectacular fashion, setting a national record alongside Malone, Rees and Matheson at a Diamond League meeting in Birmingham. The venue, the Alexander Stadium, will also host the athletics at the Games this summer.

The quartet’s mark of 44.75s hit the qualifying standard for the Games but to prove it was no fluke, they matched that time in Geneva less than a month later.

“Our aim will be to make the final and run faster than our Scottish record that we have ran twice this season so far. It wasn’t something that me and my coach were realistically aiming for this year, the aim was to get my first Scotland vest. But it’s been the best season of my life so far and it’s come at such a good time as it is a Games year. I’ve progressed so much that it’s opened up more opportunities for me and getting into the Commonwealth Games team is just a dream come true. It’s an honour to be representing my country doing the thing I love to do.”

Support locally – particularly from the Council and Picky – has been key to her success.

Taylah explained: “Only this year (2022) Orkney athletes have been able to get electronic times at our home competitions at Picky. I can’t express enough how important this is for athletes to have access to on home soil. My first outdoor race of the season was here in Orkney where I ran a huge PB of 24.22 seconds - this time got me my first Scotland call up and qualified me for the British Championships. If it was a hand time, I wouldn’t have gotten these call ups and would of missed out on competing at Loughborough, the Birmingham Diamond League and Geneva. So, it’s amazing what opportunities this new electronic timing will provide not only me but athletes in the future.

“I’ve received incredible support locally from the Council through the Athlete Travel Award Scheme and various businesses have sponsored me; Orkney Builders, Kirkjuvar, Mcewens Furnishing, Streamline, Lows, Marwick JCB Hire & Groundwork and R.Clouston Ltd. I’ve also received support from the ladies at Stromness Golf Club. I can’t thank everyone enough for their generosity and kindness to get me to where I am today, it means so much. My family are also incredible! Especially my mum and dad, they have always gone above and beyond to support me and they’ve done everything they can to help me get where I am today.”

Taylah also uses the Pickaquoy Centre (track/gym) for training.

“I also use hills at Inganess Beach in the winter for hill sprints. During lockdown I set up a gym in my garage and used the roads to sprint on.”

There are obvious challenges to being based in Orkney when it comes to travel for training and competitions.

Taylah explained: “My coach is based in Aberdeen. We built up a good coach-athlete relationship while I was at uni for three years. He was willing to coach me from a distance when I decided to move home to work once I qualified as a midwife in 2019. Thankfully, we have continued to make great progress and I think this has a lot to do with not only the time and effort we both put in to get the best out of me but also the great coach-athlete relationship we have. I can’t thank him enough for everything he has done and still continues to do for me.”

Taylah has been interested in sport for as long as she can remember, focusing her efforts on sprinting, with her main events the 60m, 100 and 200m.

“I wanted to do them all when I was young but when it got to an age I needed to choose, I focused on athletics and netball. I did netball at national level and competed for Scotland at Netball Europe in 2015 in the U17 team. When I went to university in 2016, I decided to solely focus on athletics and see how far I could go with it (sprinting).”

After the Games, the aim stays the same Taylah says - keep running faster.