NOT all the great sporting achievements happen in the arena of well-funded, highprofile events. Sometimes great things are achieved quietly and with few witnesses.

Take, for instance, 58-year-old Northallerton tennis player Margaret Fenwick. She’s just competed in her 40th consecutive tennis final at the same local club she joined when she was 12.

This month she played in the ladies’ singles and doubles finals in the height of the summer heat and won another singles final.

Northallerton Tennis Club thought this rightly deserved some recognition, but acknowledged she was well known for being a modest character and might not want to speak about her achievement to a reporter.

We’re glad she did – it was an inspiration to speak to her.

At the weekend, young Bailey Matthews managed to complete his second Castle Howard Triathlon. The nineyear-old has cerebral palsy.

Images of him completing last year’s triathlon by abandoning his walking aid and making the finish line went viral and earned him a BBC Sports Personality of the Year award.

He showed the same grit and determination again this year after beating his personal best and swimming 100m, cycling 4km and running 1.3km in a record time.

And those four mums, the Yorkshire Rows, who became the oldest women to row across the Atlantic, are still spreading their inspirational message.

It’s great to have local sporting heroes like this.

Our busy lives often make our own physical health and wellbeing take a back burner.

But whether your obstacles are money, time or self-confidence, it’s worth giving it a go.