ATHLETICS: Old and Young Go Faster, Higher, Stronger
LORNA WATTS
Rae Le Fay on track
The 2023 Track and Field season has been the most successful for Hastings Athletics Club (HAC) in many years. With the club’s high quality, qualified specialist coaching team, the results speak for themselves.
Training sessions have been extremely well attended of late with a fun, supportive and positive atmosphere shining through all season. But whilst a lot of members have been coming along for just that, many immersed themselves in the competitive opportunities available.
The joint HAC and Hastings Runners team won the Sussex Masters League with four strong team performances over the summer against the other Sussex clubs. A great team spirit was always on show, and it was a fantastic way for our elder (over age 35) athletes to compete and have fun – many for the first time ever on track.
Jo Body (V55) broke three sprint event club records, and Mary Sanderson (V55) broke the 800m ten-year club record by 15 seconds.
Having won promotion last year in the Southern Athletics League, the club faced tougher competition in a higher division. Some great individual and team performances, plus a good amount of competitive grit and determination, saw the club hold its own and remain in the division. Next year they look to consolidate this and continue to provide a platform for all athletes to compete and excel.
Sprint Group numbers have been expanding rapidly – the atmosphere and personal improvements have been extremely exciting to observe through all the age groups. This growing group is under the direction of principal coach, club stalwart and current World Masters gold medallist Steve Baldock. His expertise, dedication and welcoming attitude are legendary in the athletics community. There are many promising young sprinters coming through the ranks and set to make waves in the coming seasons.
Delicia Pascal had some strong sprints this year, culminating in her claiming the Under 20s club record for 100 metres and displacing a record which had stood for 43 years.
Jordan Pola recorded another PB (personal best) in the 100m, coming close to the 11-second mark and moving to fifth in the all-time club records.
Field events too have taken off like never before. The hammer group has been very busy and there has been a resurgence in pole vault and hurdles training, for which we have specialist coaches – an exclusive option in the Hastings area. A few youth athletes have enjoyed one-to-one javelin coaching, taking their skills out to compete throughout Sussex.
Charlotte Wynne Pennels in the hammer cage
Charlotte Wynne-Pennels broke her own club record for pole vault, adding 15cm to last year’s best. She also entered the club record books for the hammer throw in her first season of throwing.
From the Endurance Group, HAC international athlete Grace Baker made her Marathon debut in London. She demonstrated a masterclass in consistent pacing throughout the whole route, coming in 37th out of a whopping 9,786 female entries. Her time of 2:48:24 was well inside the 3:15 UK Championship qualifier mark and provided a new club record by 10 minutes. Grace was also first overall in the Rye Summer Series and Battle 10k alongside two other HAC female athletes – second was Amy Rodway with a course personal best and third Jenna Levett.
Back at the London Marathon, Nickolaj Kennett’s hotly anticipated world record attempt was indeed a success – he now holds the World Record for the fastest postman!
The Club’s very own power couple Steve and Jayne Baldock have just headed out to Italy for the European Masters Athletics Championship, where Jayne is competing in the hammer throw, and Steve in the 400m, 800m and 400m relay. This follows on from the Counties Masters event in the National Arena in Nuneaton. Steve was part of the winning 4 x 100m relay team for the age 50 category, and came second in the age 50 800m in a closely fought battle with the third. Jayne, representing the age 35 category, achieved a superb third place in the hammer with a throw of 27.95m in her first ever national event.
Other veteran success stories include Jack Madden (V40), who has run several PBs this year, and took three seconds off the 3000m record in Watford in September, breaking what appears to be the longest standing record from 1979. Jeff Pyrah (V50) broke three club records in track distances from 1500m to 5000m, as well as the road 10k and half marathon records.
Congratulations also go to Evelyn Moynihan (U17) who took a whopping 15 seconds off his 1500m and five seconds off his 800m time.
The club has now introduced the English Athletics PB Awards. These are a series of awards with nine levels of progression per age group, which celebrate athletes reaching new ‘personal bests’ in all track and field events.
Thirty-three HAC athletes have entered the charts but only Rae Le Fay has reached the highest Level 9 in a phenomenal four events: 800m, 1500m, 3000m and 400m hurdles. She broke club records in 800m, 1500m, 3000m, 1500m steeplechase and 2000m steeplechase, and won gold in a hat-trick of events in the Sussex County Championships: 800m, 1500m, and 3000m, which included two Championship best records. In her first ever attempt at the 1500m steeplechase, she broke the 40 year old club record by 15 seconds and she was the first Under 17 athlete in Sussex to break the five minute barrier, giving her a UK ranking of 2nd. She finished the season with an array of medals around her neck, making her one of the most successful HAC athletes ever over such a variety of events.
Lily Clements has stretched far into the PB Awards higher levels too as an Under 15, with Level 7 for 60m, Level 6 for 100m and Level 8 for 200m. Since moving to sprint events, she has had an exciting season – her potential is coming through in leaps and bounds.
Martyn Reynolds continued his domination of short distances in the V40 age category this year, taking the 200m club record by nearly two seconds, and achieving EA PB award level performances in 100m, 200m and 400m.
At Parkrun, club members have broken at least three course records over the last few months.
The beginners and improvers group has also expanded with absolute running ‘newbies’ gaining enough confidence to compete in half marathons, track events and bolstering an unprecedented amount of sign-ups for first timers in the upcoming cross-country season.
So things have never been better at HAC. If you’re interested in looking at the club records, its website is due to be re-launched imminently. Here you will also find full details of the available training sessions.
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