England Athletics national Track and Field Championships

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Day 1 of the National Championships hosted the 800m and 1500m heats, along with the 3000m straight final, restricting all middle distance runners to a single event. Robbie chose the 3000m as his preferred event along with a very strong line up including 6 of this seasons fastest 10 3000m runners. We expected a hard and fast race, and we weren’t disappointed.

Robbie ultimately finished 5th, running a very good tactical race, but by letting the leading group pull a little too far forward he left himself too much to do to get one of those medal places.

Before today only 1 U15 runner in the whole of the UK had run a sub 9’20” 3000m, that runner was Matt Willis, who won today’s race in 9’08”.48. The top 6 runners completing the race in sub 9’20”, with Robbie finishing 5th in 9’18”.24, knocking 11 seconds off his PB. It was quick and all of the top 6 runners, minus Matt Willis got PB’s, and as of now the UK rankings for the top 6 runners exactly match the finishing line up for this race.

3000m National Championships - Field Merging after the first bend

3000m National Championships – Field Merging after the first bend

 

 

National Schools T&F Championships 2014

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It was with great pride that the family Coupland packed up and headed up north for a weekend of athletics at Alexander Stadium in Birmingham. Robbie heading up on Thursday night with the Hampshire team, the pain from his hip now behind him, but a week out of training hanging over him like a dark cloud but a lot of positive thinking and ability assertion had him feeling good about the weekend. Alas though it was not to be, Robbie got boxed in early with the core group of runners, and throughout the race struggled with that position, never really making a positive move to break out of the pack, or at least not making a successful one. In the end, the last lap left him wanting and the final straight showed a Robbie, who to me was simply not anywhere close to fit. Completing his heat in 9th place but with a respectable time of 4’22”. Not a bad time, but ultimately not good enough, not good enough to qualify, and not good enough to score any “standard” points for the county. With Robbie out of the 1500m Saturday, final day, was just about the athletics, and with the disappointment of Friday’s results behind us the chance for the family Coupland, as a unit, to get behind all the athletes was great, and an excellent day of really enjoyable athletics was had.

The Pack - 1500m Heat 2

The Pack – 1500m Heat 2

Picture shows Robbie in 7th place with about 450m to go, had he managed to stick with it, 7th place would have been just enough to qualify, but on the day it was simply not to be.

A zoom in of the Hampshire Team at the Parade Ceremony.

A Panoramic view of the stands and competitors at the Parade Ceremony

Calthorpe Park Sports Day

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Calthorpe run a number of heat events during normal PE lessons to select runners for the finals on Sports Day, the exception to this is the 1500m race, which is run as 2 heats, with the times taken and positions sorted based on time, not on a final. So before Sports Day, Robbie had already won the 1500m, and was down to race in the 800m final/ The Year 9 (Robbie) and Year 10 boys races were merged in to one, obviously with the boys scoring within their own age group only. Robbie went out from the start to try and beat the School Sports Day Record for year 9 currently standing at 2’15”, and his time at the half way point looked very good, Robbie had a convincing lead and was looking very strong running the race from out in front, with Billy Kilcoyne (Y10) in second place but some distance back.

Robbie finished in a new record time of 2’13.89″ breaking the old record, that had stood since 1972.

Heading down the finishing straight for the first time.

Southern Schools Inter-County Championships

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On a gloriously sunny day the Couplands, minus the daughter, headed down to Crawley to compete for / cheer on the Hampshire Schools team. Robbie was selected to run in the 1500m, and we were expecting to cheer him on, in what should be the toughest race of the year to date. As we have seen so often this year Robbie set the pace for the race, completing the first 300m in 48 seconds, continuing with lap times (400m) of 70 seconds. With about 700m to go Harry Boyd from Surrey took on the mantle and pushed forward, taking  Zac Mahamed with him and dropping Robbie in to 3rd place with Jesse Magorrian from Kent sitting on Robbie’s shoulder. The burst lasted for only a short period but it was enough to see Harry pulling away from Zac in second creating a gap of approximately 15m. Robbie kicked to try and close up on Harry, and Jesse went with him the pair pulling past Zac and putting Robbie back in to second place. The battle for first place was well and truly won, and with 300m to go Jesse surged past Robbie to take second, it looked a little bleak, would Robbie be pushed out of the medal places? As it happens, NO! Robbie kept Jesse well within his sights and at the 200m to go point kicked hard, closing the small gap between them and urging Jesse onwards. The final placings had Harry (Surrey) in 1st with 4’14” Jesse (Kent) 2nd with a PB time of 4’17” and Robbie (Hampshire) a very close 3rd with another PB of 4’18.5″. A great run by all the boys and a great day for Hampshire. Well done to all athletes who competed in very hot conditions and who showed the South that Hampshire has some bite.

Southern Schools Inter Counties

Robbie pushing the Pace with Harry Boyd keeping close.

Hampshire Schools County Championships

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The Hampshire Schools County Championships doubles as the Hampshire Schools selection event for the Southern Schools Inter Counties and the National Schools Championship, which is the fourth biggest athletics event in the world, or so I’m told. With all that said, it was always going to be the most important event of the summer calendar, for now at least.

Although Robbie has already achieved the English Schools National qualifying time, it means nothing unless the county select him to race, he needs to win this Inter-District Championship, and in reality he needs to win it with a good time and a convincing performance. I am more than pleased to say he did both, running for Aldershot District (Orange Vest) he once again lead the pack from the start, by the half way point only Zac Mohamed was still with Robbie, and he took the opportunity to try to push past, Robbie however was having none of it, re-took the lead and pressed on. With 400m to go Robbie was pulling away, with 200m to go he kicked round the bend and by the finish line was a good 50m in front of all opposition.

A great run, leading to an excellent time of 4’18.9 a PB for Robbie improving on his English Schools qualifying time, and once more with all the work under his own belt. Great result another gold and another county champion title, this time for Hampshire Schools.

Qualified !!!

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With less than two weeks to go before the Hampshire Schools Championships Robbie has managed to push out a National Schools qualifying time. Running in the 1500m at the Watford Open, with a heat target time of 4’15” Robbie was hoping to use the fast pace of the other runners to pull him round for a schools qualifying time. Unfortunately the race wasn’t as fast as hoped and Robbie ended up having to set the pace, once again leading the pack from the front and doing all the work, this didn’t bode well for a great time, but in the end it was good enough to provide the needed qualifying time, and another new PB.

The finishing 300m saw Robbie knocked back in to 2nd, then 3rd place but not by far, the race being won in 4’19” and Robbie finishing in 4’20”. A good run, well run but a better field would definitely see Robbie improve his times even further.

Pushing the Pace from the front - Watford Open 4th June 2014

Pushing the Pace from the front – Watford Open 4th June 2014

Youth Development League (YDL) – Match 2 – Lewes

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Match 2 in the YDL series saw Robbie go head to head with New Forest Juniors’ Alex Forster for the fourth time in as many weeks, it was about the race, but almost more important was the time, with that English Schools qualifying time still not met there was an element of “Just Go For It” about the race. Robbie did just that, completing the first 400m in 66 seconds, well on track to meeting the time, but the laps slowed slightly laps 2 and 3 taking 70 and 74 seconds respectively leaving Robbie 50 seconds to complete the last 300m, he pushed hard and really went for it, finishing that last 300m in 51 seconds, or to be more precise 50.9 seconds. Very close, but 0.9 seconds outside the time is still outside the time. A great run and a great win now we need to look to Watford open for a qualifying time so well done Robster, and good luck for Wednesday at Watford.

1500m at Lewes - YDL Match 2

1500m at Lewes – YDL Match 2

Hampshire Track and Field Championships 2014 – Day 2

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Day 2 of the Hampshire Championships and Robbie is officiating again, but the race of the day is the 1500m, which possibly carries a little bit more importance than the 3000m as it will feed the English Inter-County Championships. Originally scheduled as a single heat followed by a final, drop outs on the day caused a rethink by the officials and the race was reorganised in to a straight final. After planning for a heat, this meant a quick rethink by Robbie on his tactics, and he pretty much went for the same tactics as he did in the 3000m, i.e. Get out there, run like mad and hope he burns out the opposition. Great Plan 🙂

The race held completely different opponents to the 3000m, but a similar race style with Robbie leading from the front, Alex Forster took up the shoulder sitting role and kept hard on Robbie right up to the 1200m point, where Robbie started to pull away, and Alex started to slow having given his all and Robbie seeing the clock kicked with a hope to hit the elusive 4’22” English Schools qualifying time, unfortunately he didn’t make it and Alex was knocked back in to 3rd place by Patrick Whelan from Southampton, but not making the qualifying time was a minor and almost insignificant point on the day, Robbie got a 1500m PB of 4’23”, won a second gold for the weekend and was, for the second time in two days awarded the title of  County Champion, this time at 1500m.

Once again, well done Robbie.

Podium Line up for the Hampshire Championship 1500m

Hampshire Track and Field Championships 2014 – Day 1

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Day 1 of the Hampshire Championships comes to a close, both Robbie and I have dipped our hands in to the “Officials” role today, along with Robbie’s outing in the 3000m. After coming second last year to Jack Boswell, and with Jack now running in the age group above Robbie was expecting to have an easy win today, that thought direction changed though once we saw the field of runners competing, with a number of XC rivals stepping up to the 3000m track challenge too. The plan? Go as fast as possible and try to burn out the opposition, a plan that worked exceptionally well, Zac Mahamed stuck to Robbie like glue for the first 3 laps, making a push to take the lead in the fourth, his 1st place lasted roughly 200m before Robbie took the mantle up again and started to pull away within a lap the gap was growing substantially and the supporters on the sidelines could see a win in the offing. Despite a fairly obvious kick in speed at the bell from Zac, Robbie continued to maintain the gap between them, eventually winning the championship 3000m in 9’29.49″ less than 4 seconds of the Championship record.

Hampshire 3000m Champion 2014

Hampshire 3000m Champion 2014

 

This is Robbie’s first time as a County Champion, so a very pleased, if very tired young Coupland returned to Fleet. Just time to rest up for tomorrow’s 1500m heats and race. Well done Robbie!

Aldershot District Schools – County Qualifiers

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Friday 16th May see’s Robbie at Reading Stadium preparing for his first major Schools event of the track season. Robbie has been selected to represent Calthorpe Park school in the Junior 1500m race, supported by Calthorpe’s Matt Farmiloe and facing up against fellow AFD athlete, Billy Smith (Robert Mays School).

The boys warm up and line up, after a m orning of sweltering heat there is something of a breath of fresh air as clouds slowly cover the sun, dropping the temperature, not by much, but by enough to make the distance racers a little more comfortable.

From the get go, Robbie leads the race by a convincing margin, giving him little, if any competition. Finishing first and becoming the Aldershot District Champion at 1500m in 4’29”.

Robbie leads the 1500m's in convincing style.

Robbie leads the 1500m’s in convincing style.