FASTER AND FASTER - PB CITY!!

Trackspeed1-UK are simply getting faster and faster, and they can't stop - as illustrated by yet another five lifetime best performances last week.

Nima Jam - phenomenal improvement
over 100m this summer, who set another
lifetime best at Lee Valley last week!

It now means that only Jason Hussain, who recently underwent surgery on a long term Achilles tendon injury, has not improved a lifetime best mark, with some having improved by up to 0.8s over 100m, and 2 seconds over 400m!

Highlight of a Lee Valley open meeting last Wednesday (22nd June) was another massive improvement by Nima Jam.  A personal trainer by trade, the 30-year-old's obsessive attention to detail on his technical ability has seen him slice almost half a second off his previous 100m best.

Then there was Piers Chen who had struggled to dip under his best ever mark this year, but he did that in style at Lee Valley with an improvement of just over half a tenth of a second.  With Nima also improving his 200m mark by just over a tenth, the chips were down for other squad members competing on a night where all following winds were within the legal limit.

Jerome Lule again improved his 100m time - now almost half a second better than 2015 - and then 18-year-old South London Harrier Brandon Murray saw his personal best 100m improve by a solid two tenths of a second.

"These are very significant improvements," said Trackspeed1-UK coach John Powell.  "There is no secret formula for these results this year either - they are as a result of a serious amount of hard graft by most, although I have to say that the current group generally have an excellent work ethic, and huge camaraderie, which is a huge asset, and feeds inspiration and motivation.

"We have already had enquiries about joining the group for the coming 2016-17 year, which is of course flattering, but candidates will have to persuade us they are coming to graft and work and not just take a ride!"

Former Trackjspeed1-UK sprinter James Ellington, who reached the London 2012 Olympic Games under the tutelege of John Powell, joined the elite group of sprinters to dip under 10 seconds on Saturday at the British Championships.  "It was a lump in the throat moment," admitted John - a huge achievement!  Ellington is now coached by Linford Christie.

Trackspeed1-UK's current representation at the Championships, in Birmingham, which were also the trials for the Olympic Games, was a modest one this year with all three competitors still coming back from either injury or outside commitments that had severely curtailed their preparation.

David Bolarinwa produced a highly respectable 10.47s 100m run in the heats, but failed to progress past the semi-final, while Oweka Wanogho didn't make the cut from his heat, nor did Niclas Baker after his 400m heat.

"It was frustrating to watch," said John, because had Nic not fallen down the stairs at home and twisted his ankle a few weeks ago, his form before that would have got him into the final.  But that's life!"