British Athletics League Division 1, Match 1

Eton, 5^thMay 2018

2018 will go down in the record books as Kingston and Poly’s first season in Division 1 of the British Athletics League, and the first match of this new era took place at the Thames Valley Athletics Centre in Eton.

And what a glorious day it was too! Beautiful sunshine and temperatures that if anything veered into ‘too hot for physical activity’ territory resulted in a fair few Personal Bests and impressive performances as Kingston’s athletes tested themselves against some of the UK’s top clubs.

The build-up to the match was a fraught one for Team Manager Chris Hall, who not only had to contend with the bank holiday but also the BUCS Championships starting on the same day. In all there were around 25 athletes unable to participate, but nevertheless the usual minimum target of 19 athletes was met, albeit with a number of those doing 3-5 events.

If that wasn’t enough, bad traffic on the M25 meant that getting to the track in the first place was a tougher task than anticipated, and it was notable how sparse the arena was during the opening events as athletes struggled to get there in time.

Here's an interesting article about K&P Chucker, Jamie Gane. Have a read!

Kingston-Based Adaptive Athlete Jamie Gane Forms Partnership with U.S. Elite Coach

Jamie Gane, member of the Kingston Athletics and Polytechnic Harriers, has been matched with Paul Pisani, ten time New York State cycling champion and world-class tennis coach, as part of a groundbreaking mentoring program. 

The organisation behind the program is The True Athlete Project (TAP) - a non-profit formed of athletes, coaches, psychologists, mindfulness teachers and policymakers, including Norman Lamb MP, former UK health minister; Laurence Halsted, a British Olympic fencer; and Pam Boteler, the first woman to defeat men in the US canoeing championships. Their aim is to unleash the power of sport as a force for good in society.