Early season test in ActiveGsy Track & Field Series
We speak to sprinter Abi Galpin and Guernsey Athletics’ coach Nick Marley ahead of the opening meeting on Sunday
Early season form will be tested and some will step into competition for the first time in the first of the ActiveGsy Track & Field Series on Sunday.
Taking place at Footes Lane, 58 people will compete across events that include 100m, 800m, sprint hurdles, high jump and shot putt.
A new Guernsey Athletics initiative for this year will encourage younger athletes to use their skills across the full range of disciplines by setting them the goal of beating their own best times or distances.
For some of the senior competitors it will be their first outing of the year, but for others, like record breaking sprinter Abi Galpin, they will be trying to translate great indoor form into the summer.
Abi will run in two rounds of the 100m with one eye on building towards her favoured 200m distance which she will run in the Commonwealth Games later this year.
Because of Covid, this indoor season was the first she had been able to compete in for two years.
‘I really wanted a big 60 [metres]. I wanted the island record, I knew it was going be tough to get Kylie’s [Robilliard] record, but I really had my eye on it once I was hitting the times in training,’ she said.
The fresh Covid wave in England threatened to disrupt that attempt as competitions were postponed and cancelled.
But in the end, Abi can reflect on the best indoor season she has ever had.
In her first competition in Manchester she was pleasantly surprised with a 7.50sec clocking, breaking the decade old island record by a tenth, and lowering her best again to 7.47sec in the Southerns at Lee Valley in finishing second and then she went to the finals in the BUCS British University Championships.
‘Something that I was practising for indoors, which leads on to outdoors, is getting good at rounds. Probably one of my weaknesses in previous years is that I can do a really great race, but I’m ruined for the rest of the day so I’m not going to get another time out,’ she said.
‘So to practise over 60 just hitting a time and then coming back an hour later and trying to replicate it, and an hour later replicating it in the final, was quite a difficult thing for me. But actually, this season I managed to start bringing that out. I was really happy that at the Southerns I managed to run my PB in the third round of the day, which for 60 metres, it sounds a bit silly, but when you’re really trying to run at your maximum speed, a 100% effort, it is difficult to get that back when you’ve already fatigued yourself in earlier rounds. For me, that’s really important heading into the Commonwealths, hopefully getting into the semi final in the 200, I need to be able to run flat out in the first round, and then come back the next day and hopefully run a PB again in the second round.’
It has been a confidence building exercise.
This season will see Abi testing herself more against competitors in England now that border restrictions have eased.
Sunday is a chance to open the outdoor season up over a shorter distance.
‘It’s really just about getting used to racing. The more you race, the better you get at racing. It sounds simple, but that’s that’s the way it is,’ she said.
‘You can’t expect to nail it every time, but it’s about building consistency and trying to peak when you need to. So I’m starting in April so that I can be peaking in August for the Commonwealths. So I start now, if it’s not amazing, then that’s fine. Because it’s all about building up and you shouldn’t expect it to be amazing right at the start of the season.’
Sunday will serve as good preparation for competing at BUCS in a week’s time, while Abi also stressed how much she loved racing at home with the support from the crowd and other local competitors.
Enjoyment was the word for anyone thinking about taking up athletics.
‘When I started when I was in Year Five and I wasn’t amazing at it. I was a sprinter, out of all the events it was obvious, but I wasn’t the best in my year. I wasn’t the most amazing kid that everyone was like “wow, she’s going to really go far”. So I think if you’re enjoying it, that’s all that matters, because I really did enjoy it as a kid and it’s just progressed and progressed.’
The 100m will be the busiest field on Sunday with 20 athletes running across four heats and two rounds.
Josh Duke is the pick of the senior male runners in that, having taken his best to 11.21sec last year.
Rhiannon Dowinton goes over the 100m hurdles, with Gian-Luca Robilliard heading up the main 800m race.
Out in the field, focus will be on Sofia Mella in the long jump and Sia Banbury in the hammer as they all look to show Island Games form in the qualification window.
Guernsey Athletics has a strong offering for younger athletes.
Those in Year 5 train twice a week across different events.
They compete in Quad Kids in the summer, essentially a quadrathlon where you accumulate points for running faster, throwing or jumping further.
They are encouraged to beat their own points total.
The focus on competing against yourself is being continued with an initiative for U15s in the ActiveGsy series where they get points every time they better a previous performance.
‘Someone’s going to win, that’s fine, but actually, if you can have a big PB of your own, that’s also a success as well,’ said coach Nick Marley.
‘We really want to focus on the fact that it’s not just being the best at U13, but actually staying in the sport, enjoying the sport, coming up and competing with your mates, having fun with your mates, and then just building yourself from there.’
Athletics is a great way for children to enhance all their skills while having fun.
Balance, coordination, agility can all benefit, which helps progress with other sports like football too.
‘We’re not precious, we’ll take any child who wants to come down. And if they’re working towards enhancing their other sports out there, that’s great as well, as long as they enjoy what we’re doing,’ said Nick.
‘For a younger age, it’s all about having fun. I’m a really big believer in having friendship groups come down. I think if they make friends down here, then they’re more likely to keep coming back. Because it’s not just about competing or training, it’s also about coming down with your mates for an hour-and-a-half, three times a week.’
The club encourages competition, but competition against yourself as well.
On Sunday some of the U13s will be taking part in their first meeting.
‘You’ve got a real gun, a photo finish, it’s all new to them. They’ll be experiencing nerves on quite a big scale, which helps out development as well. We’ve got some really good U13 athletes who are embedded in the club, they’ll take their winter training and just see where they are at. That’s quite exciting for those that have worked two or three times a week now, in some cases for two or three years, with not a lot of competition. After all the hard work, we’re going to start seeing on Sunday just where they’re at.’
From those older athletes looking at setting Island Games standards, to those stepping on the track to compete for the first time, Sunday has it all.
Timetable
12pm High Jump
12pm 75m (U13)
12.10pm 100m
12.15pm Shot putt
12.35pm 100m hurdles
12.40pm 70m hurdles
12.50pm 75m hurdles
12.50pm 80m hurdles
1pm Hammer
1pm Long jump
1pm 800m
1.15pm 800m (U13)
1.25pm 100m
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