2011 Track and Field Season
Day in the spotlight for Athletics
RAF Athletics dominated at the 2011 RAF Sports Board Awards with Cpl Stu Benson taking the RAF Sportsman of the year award and the Association taking the coveted team of the year award.
Recognising Stu Benson’s outstanding achievements over the last decade as an outstanding athlete, Air Marshal Andy Pulford was on hand to present the trophy in the grand surroundings of the Halton House Officers Mess. Unfortunately Stu wasn't able to attend as he was competing in Austria attempting to qualify for the Bobsleigh World Cup but he beat off competition from Cpl Bardgett from Rugby League and Sgt Harris from Judo to take the overall title.
The Association come out ahead of the Tennis Association Squad and the Cricket Senior Squad in the coveted Team of the Year award. The Judges recognised the Associations team spirit and outstanding achievements at Inter Service level and beyond across a range of disciplines in making their decision. If you want to get involved in the 2012 season, send us a Query.
Athletics looks set to get what it deserves!
It is with immense pride that we can report that Cpl Stu Benson has been selected as one of the Nominees for the RAF Sports Man of the year award.
Stu started off in athletics as a triple jumper but quickly found his calling as a sprinter over the 100m and 200m representing the RAF at a variety of levels of competition all the way up to international honours. A recent highlight was in 2011, which saw him step outside of his comfort zone at the Inter Services to run not only the 100m and 200m but the Triple Jump, 4 x 100m relay and 4 x 400m relay to ensure a men’s team win, reclaiming the title after a 9 year draught. Showing his credentials as an all round sportsman he is now branching out into the world of bobsleigh and is continuing the trend that track sprinters perform above the norm on the ice. He has recently been selected for the Great Britain team travelling to the World Cup in Germany later in the year.
The RAF Athletics Association has also made the final cut for the RAF Sports Team of the Year award. The RAF Athletics Association has gone from strength to strength over the last few years and 2011 has seen all of its various teams performing at the highest level. The team spirit and athletic ability that permeates every aspect of the organisation has resulted in the seizing on no less that 7 Inter Service titles. The balance is tipping in the RAF favour after a decade of Army dominance of Inter Service athletics and the work the Association has done in creating the right environment for success will see the team go from strength to strength over the coming years.
Cpl Stu Benson Makes GB Bobsleigh Standard
Cpl Stu Benson (DCAE Cosford) has made the transition from Track and Field to Bobsleigh purely off the back of a sprint and jumps training background and thanks all the RAF personnel who have helped him along the way over the past 10 years especially Ruddy Farquharson. Stu headed off to Germany on the 21st October for the British champs, he then moves onto the Europa Cup circuit for two races before heading onto the World Cup circuit. Stu hopes the transition goes well but is not writting off a return to the Track next Summer to defend his RAF and Inter Service Sprint Titles.
Magical Meadows Moment for Athletics
RAF Cosford recently hosted the first Track and Field development weekend of the new season with the added highlight of a guest appearance by Olympic 800m runner, Jenny Meadows. Appearing on behalf of SPAR UK, Jenny and her coach provided a useful insight into what it takes to compete at the highest level.
The development weekends are just that, a chance for old and new members of the team to come along and train together, share ideas and pickup valuable training advice from the coaches that attend. All disciplines are covered from distance running, throwing, sprinting and jumping. The weekend started with a chance for everyone to introduce themselves and then it was straight into a group warmup to stretch out those all important muscles. The group then broke down into event specific groups, looking at technique and skills that would need to be refined over the winter months to enable us to challenge for the Inter Service title in 2012.
After a break for lunch, Flt Lt Nav Childs gave a thoroughly engaging talk on how to set objectives and plan your season effectively before we dove back into another physical session looking at specific conditioning and pro-perception. The day finished with an insightful practical demonstration by RAF Physio, Flt Lt Gwynne Wallace, on effective breathing and Core Stability vs Core Strength. Team moral was strengthened further in a local restaurant later that evening before everyone grabbed some much needed sleep.
Sunday proved to be the highlight of the weekend with Jenny Meadows making an appearance. Olympic bronze medallist and European Indoor silver medallist in a number of events, Jenny was attending in her role as Athletics Ambassador for SPAR UK, who recently became one of the Associations Sponsors. Trevor Meadows, her coach took all of us through a gentle warm up followed by a series of hurdle and running drills. The group then moved onto a session that forms a regular part of Jenny’s training looking to emphasise the importance of pace judgement. The morning finished with a chance to ask Jenny and Trevor a variety of questions that served to highlight the dedication and planning it takes to operate at the highest level of our sport.
Allied Air Force Inter-Nations Athletics Championships
Inter Service Heptathlon Victory
The Ladies team once again ventured back to Portsmouth and completed the clean sweep of titles for 2011 by snatching the Heptathlon Team title back from the Army. The team consisting of Flt Lt Jacqui Wilkinson, Flt Lt Claire Nixon and heptathlon debutant SAC Rhiannon Waters put on a true tour de force, leading the field from the front throughout against strong Army opposition. The first day consisted of the 100m Hurdles, Shot, High Jump and finished with the 200m. It was a tough challenge but the camaraderie within the team was tangible and Jacqui and Claire ended the day in front.
The next day saw the Long Jump, Javelin and the final 800m event saw Jacqui and Claire practically together on points and fighting it out for 1st place. The gold medal was finally awarded to Jacqui but overall the sight of three RAF ladies leading the 800m from the front was a pleasure to see.
The men were up against a very strong Army squad and with 2 new members of the team trying the Decathlon for the first time it was always going to be a tough battle. Team spirit was not lacking however and it was nice to see people extending their boundaries and trying something new. 10 events in 2 days is not an easy ask and the relief on everyones faces at the end of the final 1500m was clear and they justifiably deserved the second place overall.
Our focus now shifts to the HQ Allied Air Command Championships in Belgium and the Royal Highland Gathering in September. Send us a Query if you are interested in competing or just finding out more about the squad.
Inter Service Glory for Track and Field
We are proud to report that the RAF Track and Field team has recorded a very rare double defeat over the British Army and the Royal Navy in this years Inter Service Championships. The women retained the title they won in 2010 and the men regained the title the Army have held since 2002. A double victory has not occurred since 1993.
If you assume track and field is an individual sport then this competition alone proved how false that statement is. Many athletes competed outside their comfort zone and in unfamiliar events, sacrificing individual glory for the sake of the team. The team spirit was tangible from the moment the team walked into the stadium en mass at the start of the day, through the loud and vocal support given whenever a team mate was performing and in the celebrations at the end of the day when the scores were announced.
Speaking from track side, Team Manager Sqn Ldr Ben Trapnell said: “Today has just been a phenomenal team achievement. Everyone has raised their game and in some way contributed to this success. For the women to regain the title in 2010 for the first time since 1996 was amazing but to get the double this year is beyond our widest dreams and testament to everyone’s efforts throughout the Association along with the support of our sponsor SERCO Ltd.”
The men’s campaign got off to a shaky start that had a few doubting they could match the Army, but with a number of key victories, confidence grew and the competition changed in the “Golden Hour”. Over the space of 60 mins, the team clawed back an 18 pt deficit through a string of individual victories, backed up by a series of hard earned 2nd and 3rd places, to enter the relays with a 4 point lead. The 4 x 100m relay squad, fresh from their victory last weekend as guests in the Midlands League, came up with the goods ensuring a historic victory only required us to finish second in the 4 x 400m. Never satisfied with second place the 4 x 400m squad battled all the way and were only denied a victory by the thickness of a vest in the 4 x 400m to win by 4 points.
Women’s journey to victory was a different story: vying for the lead throughout the competition, neither team seemed able to get a winning advantage until the last few events saw the RAF surge ahead. That hard fought lead was whittled away at the last minute however meaning there was everything to play for in the relays. With many of the athletes having competed in 3 or even 4 events in some cases you could be forgiven for thinking they would struggle but they held off the Army challenge in spectacular fashion, winning both relays to retain their title by 5 points.
Our focus now shifts to Decathlon and Heptathlon Inter Service competition in 2 weeks time and then to retaining both the Men’s and Women’s titles in the HQ Allied Air Command Championships in Belgium in September.
Winning Midland’s League Debut for Inter-Service Champions
The RAF men’s 4x100m relay team were kindly granted permission to run as guests in the Midland’s League match at Stafford recently. The fixture provided the ideal opportunity for the reigning Inter-service and HQ Ramstein champions to prepare to defend their title against the Army and Navy at the Inter Service Championships. There are six teams in the league so with an eight lane track the RAF were comfortably accommodated in lane seven.
SAC Jonny Anderson ran a solid first leg to hand over to Cpl Tony Higbee who really pulled away from the opposition down the back straight. A smooth change over saw Flt Lt Rob Barker-Davies into the final bend before handing over to Cpl Stu Benson with a healthy lead.
Men’s team captain Tony Higbee said “This has been a great opportunity for us, the change-overs made all the difference last year.” Vice-captain and Scottish International Stu Benson added “Three quarters of this team have been running together since 2005 – even if the Army have four individuals faster than us on paper we still believe we can beat them.”
Special mention must go to Jonny Anderson who will gain his RAF colours competing in the Inter-services for the first time on Wednesday. He looked like the sort of cool customer who will not phased by whatever the Army and Navy may be up to around the starting blocks. Portsmouth awaits....
Combined Services vs Loughborough 11
The combined might of the Armed Forces was on show recently, facing up the the might of Track and Field heavy weight Loughborough University. This annual evening fixture allows the selected athletes to compete at a a national standard and as a team, setting aside the normal inter service rivalry. The match provides a good range of events and the opportunity to scope out the opposition in advance of the Inter Services on the 6th of July in Portsmouth.
The Ladies got things started with Flt Lt Jacqui Wilkinson and Flt Lt Claire Nixon facing up to the opposition in the High Jump. On the track Cpl Stu Benson was in fine form in the 100m, just being edged into second place against quality opposition. He was backed up by Flt Lt Nav Childs, Flt Lt Rob Barker Davies and SAC Jonny Anderson who are all showing they are in good form at this stage of the season. Nav later returned to the track in the 200 showing his versatility this season.
SAC Russ Muhl continued his improvement this season in the Javelin, throwing a fine performance on a wet and windy night that was not ideal for PBs. The ladies were not content to rest on their field event laurels and Jacqui had a good run in the 200m before Claire showed she could last the distance in the 400m.
Flt Lt Greg Dunson stepped back out onto the track after a medal winning indoor season and blitzed his way through a quality field in the 110mH with his eyes firmly set on the World Veteran Championships later in the year. The 3000m saw a field loaded with quality RAF talent that saw Cpl Matt Blunden lead the way to a seasons best of 8:52 closely followed by Flt Lt Matt Whitfield, Cpl Steve Frear and Cpl Oz Ellis.
The match was rounded off with the relays and the Combined Services put on a convincing show to beat the Loughborough Students into second place in the 4 x 100m. Our thanks go to the organizers and officials for putting on a fantastic match that provides so many opportunities for the athletes of the Armed Forces.
RAF Benson Stands Out on the Track
The Presidents Cup saw a wide variety of Units come together for an intense but fun day of competition, which saw RAF Benson lift the overall team title for the first time.
The event is designed to introduce people to the world of Track and Field in a fun and friendly environment and with teams having to be made up of male and female competitors, you have to have a balanced team to succeed! Braving a cold and blustery track, teams from as far away as St Athan and Leeming made the long trek to Cosford for what was an exciting and enjoyable days action.
The competition sees a balance of established Association Stars competing alongside newcomers to the team looking for their first taste of success and the team managers of the mens and womens teams were on hand to snap up those showing potential. It was the depth that RAF benson brought to bear under the leadership of Cpl Oz Ellis that proved to be the X factor and enabled them to lift the Presidents Cup for the first time ever against the heavy weights of Waddington and Cosford.
The results speak from themselves and can be found below but the whole day would not be possible without a huge amount of effort put in by a great many people. Sqn Ldr Ret'd Roger Doust ran an Officals Course over the weekend prior to the match to enable many Service and Civilian personnel to qualify as Officials and our thanks go to them and the established Officials that continue to support our efforts. Jack Dilleys results team were outstanding, coordinating the statistical part of the day and the event organiser Sqn Ldr Jason Chalk deserves special mention for orchestrating such a successful day.
The next Inter Station event is the RAF Championships on the 22nd of June. Send us a Query if you are intending on bringing a team or just want further details.
European Silver for RAF Athlete
The European Masters 2011 Indoor Athletics Championships were held in Ghent, Belgium. 3300 athletes participated, of which Flt Lt Greg Dunson from the Sentry Project Team, based at RAF Waddington, represented Great Britain in the men 45 age group 60m hurdles.
24 athletes from across Europe made up the three heats of which a strong contender from France and some stiff home grown competition were amongst the field.
Qualifying as the winner of his heat, Greg found himself alongside the Frenchman in the final, but after a poor start was in 5th place at the first hurdle with much to do. Keeping his head he gradually worked his way through the field to come off the last hurdle in 3rd, the run in to the finish saw him make up one more place to take 2nd on the line in a new British record of 8.63 seconds.
Speaking from track side Greg said: “ I wanted to race the Frenchman before the World Championships in Sacramento later this year, where I am the current World Champion. Now I know my start needs some work.”
This was a fantastic start to the season for Greg who has already won the British Masters Indoor 60m hurdles in Feb and will now turn his attention to preparing for the upcoming outdoor season.
Life Vice Presidents Track and Field Match
A tail wind on the finishing straight was the first surprise of a fantastic day’s competition at RAF Cosford.
The Ladies team stormed back onto the same track that saw them score a rare victory over the Army at the end of the previous season. The team was a mix of established faces, new talent and a brace of athletes returning from long term injury and all of them contributed to running Leeds Metropolitan University close in a hard fought competition.
Cpl Sam Hodges showed she had been taking full advantage of the track now she was based at Cosford, coming 1st in the 100m with 12.90 sec and ran a blistering 26.10 sec in the 200m. Taking a break from the XC scene, Flt Lt Helen Davies ran 2mins 30sec in the 800m and pushed herself to new limits for the team in the 1500m showing great promise for the season ahead. Flt Lt Claire Nixon continued to show that she has the potential to do great things in the jumps, competing in the HJ (1.55m), TJ (9.39m) and LJ (4.68m). Flt Lt Jacqui Smith made a welcome return from long term injury and laid down an early season marker of 1.55m with thankfully few niggles. She now continues her efforts to return to a full heptathlon programme. Flt Lt Ester Sandiford led from the front, winning the discus with 38.49m, before handing over the Flt Lt Dawn Claridge and Flt Lt Nosheen Chaudry in the Javelin who both posted solid throws. Cara Frank rounded off the days throwing in the Shot and displayed a good performance with 9.29m.
This is a strong start to the outdoor season and displayed a strength in many of the field events, which will hopefully reinforce their bid to retain the Inter Service Crown.
The men had a similar good start with a brace of PBs to keep the Team Managers blood pressure under control in the face of a dominant performance yet again by Leeds Met.
The middle distance runners showed a keen desire to match the XC Inter Service title their counterparts obtained during the winter and Flt Lt Ben Livesey made a welcome return from Operations to run the 3000m. SAC Sam Mitchell continued his fantastic run of form in the 800m and the 1500m and it was great to see a massive PB for SAC Darryl Loveland, from 2:10 down to 2:03, showing he clearly made the most of the team’s recent Warm Weather Training camp in Portugal.
SAC Ben Novell produced a 1.80m in the High Jump despite a winter disrupted by Phase 3 training and this is hopefully a performance he can look to build on throughout the season. Men’s Team Manager Flt Lt Nav Childs joined him to gain valuable points in the Long Jump before going onto post fast times in the 200m, 4 x 100m and a reasonable season opener in the Triple Jump.
Pushing the heavy metal, Cpl John Currie and SAC Mark Plowman got good points for the team in Shot and Discus. Cpl Plowman threw an early season personal best of 47m in the discus to complement his other PB of the match over 110mH, which saw him edge ever closer to breaking the 16 sec barrier. SAC Johnny Anderson and Nat Lucas doubled up in the 100m and 200m against some very fast opposition and showed they can mix it with the best. Special mention must go to Sgt Mark Afford who tackled both the 400m and 400m H, no easy task at the best of times, requiring some special dedication. A huge congratulation’s to the scratch 4 x 100m team, which included Flt Lt Nav Childs, SAC Johnny Anderson, SAC Nat Lucas, and the secret middle distance weapon on the last leg: SAC Darryl Loveland.
Athlete of the match has to go to Cpl Mark Ploughman, achieving two PBs in the 110mH and Discus, just reward for the hard graft over the winter and hopefully the precursor to a very strong decathlon performance in 2011.
A number of Open Matches and the regional County Championships now follow for the athletes to help prepare themselves for the Combined Services Match in May and a trip to Guernsey to take on Wales and Scotland.
Results
Royal Air Force Indoor Invitation Match
February saw the RAF Athletics Team make its annual pilgrimage to the English Institute of Sport Indoor Track in Sheffield. The competition, hosted by the RAF, sees us take on the might of University greats such
as Loughborough and Brunel, as well as the British Army and Royal Navy. The day provided once again an opportunity to see how your winter training was going, meet up with old friends and focus the mind on the upcoming summer season.The match was blessed with a mix of established talent and new potential. 
Established Talent:-
Team stallwarts SAC Tony Higbee and Cpl Stu Benson continued their stunning indoor form. The former coming fresh from making the B Final in the European Indoor Trials the week before and the latter aspiring to individual gold in the Scottish National Champs a week later. Flt Lt Nav Childs bounded out to a new Seasons Best in the triple jump, edging ever closer to the 15m barrier, and Cpl Caroline Livingstone blasted round the track in a cintilating 200m. The competition also saw Cpl Mark Plowman back on track as well as Sgt Bob Kingman rocketing skyward in the Pole Vault.
New Potential:-
New talent was on show in the form of SAC Hayden Carter who dominated the 800m with a dominant show of front running to break the 2 mins barrier for the first time this year before moving on to clock a solid 52.84 for the 400m. SAC Johnny Anderson also maintained his continuing run form after his outing against tough competition in the Birmingham Games to clock storming performances in the 60m and 200m. He now moves onto the Irish National Championships this weekend. SAC Chris Berry and Jordan Nicholson also took to the track again to show their credentials for the upcoming season in the field events. 
The final individual note of the day should go to Flt Lt Greg Dunson, running well and continuing his preparations for the European Veteran Championships later in the year.
Overall the competition was a success for many involved and from an RAF perspective this was reflected in the team scores. The RAF coming third to Loughborough and Brunel but only just after loosing out to Brunel on
count back that relied on the number of second places gained for a decision. Against tough competition, this gives a clear indication that there are great things to come later in the season.
If you want to get involved in the RAF team, come along to the next Coaching Weekend on the 26th of March at RAF Cosford, or put your name forward to your respective Team Managers now for the Life Time Vice Presidents Match on the 16th of April.
Results
Cpl Stu Benson Takes Gold
Cpl Stu Benson, from RAF Cosford, recently struck Gold in the Scottish National Championships over 60m Indoors.
Stu has had a number of high profile outings this season but is really just using the Indoor competition as a tool to see how his preparation for the outdoor season is going. To take a National Title into the bargin is fantastic news and the best indication yet that 2011 could be a special season. He now journies along with a number of other athletes from the RAF Athletics Team to Monte Gordo in Portugal for a period of Warm Weather training to consolidate his preparation for the season ahead.