Commonwealth Games bound duo shine bright
It opened with a new Island record, it closed with a show of intent.
Both Abi Galpin in the 200m and Peter Curtis in the 400m hurdles knew that they were in an important stage of their build up to the Commonwealth Games in Birmingham as they took to Footes Lane for the fourth round of the Guernsey Athletics’ ActiveGsy Track & Field series.
Abi’s race was for all intents and purposes a solo effort as she stormed away from the field to open up her 200m season with a 23.82s run, taking down her own Island record of 23.96 set last year in Cardiff .
‘To run a PB in what was effectively a time trial I’m really happy with,’ said Abi.
‘My 100s have been going really well, so I knew I was in really good form. But 200 felt like a really long way.’
The last 50m was where the legs started to struggle, she said.
‘I just think about keeping my legs moving, quick turnover, and trying to hold as much form as possible. For me, it’s all about keeping form at the end, trying to maintain speed because you are only going to slow down, you just need to try and slow down as little as possible.’
She will now go away and study a video of the race in the hunt for those fine margins that make such a difference.
‘For me, it’s always looking at what I could do better,’ she said.
Abi’s next outing will be at the Welsh Championships in Cardiff on 11 June before heading for the British Championships and the English Championships.
‘This was my first race to just get out and see what happened. Now I’ve got championships to build on and gain experience of doing rounds and the Commonwealths are the ultimate goal, so I’ve just got to keep building.’
In second place, U17 Isabelle Lowe ran 25.91 for a new PB, fractionally outside the Island Games A-standard.
All eyes were on Peter Curtis in the last race of the night as he tackled the 400m hurdles.
As he crossed the line having been cheered down the finishing straight he let out a roar.
He had put down a marker, just 1/15th outside his best ever, and a sign that he is in shape to go faster.
It put to bed the disappointment of a 53.33s clocking in his opening race of the year on Coventry on 10 May.
‘With the Commonwealth Games at the end of the season secured now I need to be in PB shape, I can’t be running what I opened the season with,’ he said.
‘I know I’m heading in the right direction. I’ve done it in training, but it’s one thing doing it in training, it’s another to take it to the track.’
Running solo is hard, he said.
‘But then at the same time, with hurdles you go out with your own strategy, you have your own idea of how you want the race to go. So actually, when you’re on your own you can execute that a bit better.’
The wind meant that he took some valuable experience away too.
‘The amount of strides you do between each hurdle changes through the race, and it’s really important to be quite flexible with that depending on how the race is going,’ he said.
‘So with a wind like this I had to change my stride pattern earlier than I usually would. It’s useful knowing I can do that and that’s an option and that my hurdling is getting strong enough that I can do that mid race.’
It was important to be racing locally, he said.
‘We want to promote the sport to young people. If they’re seeing loads of people in races, and quick times being run, I think it’s likely to be a motivating factor.
The 200m and 400m hurdles sandwhiched a busy eveing of racing.
The shot putt was led by Steven Marley with an 11.42m throw that edges him closer to the Island Games B-standard.
There was added interest as two mother and son combinations took to the circle to try something new.
Ulrika Maisch threw 7.84m and Emil Friedrich 6.54m, with Axel Svejstrup’s 6.66m bettering his mum Jeanne’s 4.94m.
The triple jump was won by Vicky Hancock in 10.61m, while in second Holy Drake produced a season’s best 10.36m.
There continue to be good numbers in the U13 and U15 races as they look to clock up points by bettering their previous performances.
U13s Amelie Van Heerden in 75m (10.55s) and Tom Holt in the 600m (1:43.85) both recorded new Island records.
For full results visit here.
