Thought you’d never ask KiwiJ.
Yes, deemed a success. May actually receive some funding from the national federation, but meetings to this end aren’t due until late November. Knowing the national federation, it might not come through until the end of the 2010/11 summer domestic season. Which would still be better than never, you know what I mean.
Kevin Moore, now 20, who had not run 400m until January 2010, returned from the Com Games as a gold medallist, having split 45.9 on second leg of the 4x400m team. He then acted the role of the “umpire” in the victory celebration which took the form of a cricket pantomime.
Lisa Spencer improved 6 sec on her previous attempts at 400 Hurdles and she came up again in late September to win the IAAF Oceania Area Championship 400H by 30 metres, although her time was restricted by very strong wind.
Matt Lynch ran on an Australian 4x400 relay in May but as I think was noted, he was tripped by a Japanese runner moving across lanes behind him and when he fell he received a depressed fracture of the head of the tibia (top of the shin bone). Amazingly, he got up and ran the last 350m of the race.
Matt is emerghing from a long and largely uninterrupted GPP phase following almost exactly the sessions and sequence of sessions listed in this “lactate threshold” thread. He has a bit of achilles inflammation in one leg, we think from when he had to push a training partner and car up a hill two weeks ago when the vehicle stalled.
Last week he time trialled 300m around two bends in 32.6. This was off a three-step walk-in start. He ran the first 70m into a strong wind which blew up on the edge of a very violent electric storm. The backstraight was run through a stiff cross-wind. And he picked up the taily over the last 70m or so. It is a PB. His previous PB was when he was fully rested and peaked. That was 32.8 on two straights in dead calm conditions. So I am expecting him to go sub-46 by his third 400m race of the new summer season.
We also had some pleasing results from “the nursery” and an Aboriginal teenager, Niwili Forrest, 6ft 3in and just 17 years old, has joined us. Doesn’t know anything about athletics. But super-fast learner and boy can he run. When he learns some efficiencies, he could be something very special. And a really nice kid. Bit of an artist, more contemporary indigenous style - prefers to work with paints and wax on silk with those dot paintings. His dad died the other day. Funderal this Thursday. The squad have taken him under their wing and we have become extended family it seems.
Todaty Kevin brought his Commonwealth Games gold medal to training on his return to the track after a 2-1/2wk rest. To show you what kind of a guy he is, Kevin ended the session by massaging the hamstrings and calves of training partner Matt Lynch. No airs and graces about anyone in this squad.