Former Glasgow Warrior Thom Evans getting his sporting life back on track . . .

Nick Rodger

Golf Correspondent

Tuesday 7 February 2012

February 13, 2010 will be a date forever seared into Thom Evans' mind.

Thom Evans is put through his paces on the track

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Nick Rodger

As Scotland's rugby players prepare for a return to Cardiff's Millennium Stadium this weekend for the RBS 6 Nations contest with Wales, Evans' thoughts will drift back to that day two years ago when his playing career was extinguished in near-fatal circumstances after a collision with Welsh full-back Lee Byrne left the Scot with a horrific neck injury.

Yet, Evans has always been one to look forward and, in a fortnight's time, the 26-year-old will make his running debut in Scotland when he competes in the National Senior Indoor Championship at the Kelvin Hall. His rehabilitation is clearly gathering pace.Since recovering from that devastating injury, which required two operations, the former Glasgow Warriors man has been exploring various avenues as he seeks to fill the void. Acting was one option, but it's athletics where he now hopes to take centre stage.Evans, who won 10 caps for Scotland, has been working on a daily basis with coach Margot Wells, the wife of Scottish Olympic gold medallist Allan. He has taken up membership with scottishathletics, the national governing body, and has entered the 60 metres sprint of the indoor event on Sunday week. "I'm looking forward to running in Glasgow, I'm excited by the prospect of competing there," enthused Evans. "When I played for Glasgow, we used to do warm-ups in the Kelvin Hall so I am familiar with the arena and the track."At the moment I'm simply gaining some race experience in the 60m. It is all new but the idea is to build some basic sprinting fitness. Further down the line I would think there's more chance I will be looking at 200m or 400m. That's more the goal to be honest."While Evans, who has competed in a couple of indoor meetings in London, has ambitions of gatecrashing his way into the reckoning for a place at the Commonwealth Games in 2014, Wells has been swift to emphasise things are still in the formative stages."I would stress it is at an early stage," she said. "We have to build it up and clearly sprinting technique is different from the way you run as a rugby player."Scottishathletics have welcomed Evans as a member and his presence at the championship should generate considerable interest."We're delighted Thom has decided to become a member of scottishathletics and it will be great to see him running in Glasgow," said Nigel Holl, the body's chief executive. "It is clear he's already shown a lot of determination to recover from the injury which ended his rugby career and we understand he has been training hard this winter."February 13, 2010 was the darkest moment of Evans' career. February 19, 2012 is the day he will get his sporting life back on track.

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Former Glasgow Warrior Thom Evans getting his sporting life back on track . . .

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