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!"

HUSSAIN'S MISSION '20-POINT' STARTS HERE!

Trackspeed1-UK sprinter Jason Hussain has written off the 2016 summer season and resorted to the operating table in a bid to achieve his ultimate target of running inside 21 seconds for the 200 metres ("Mission 20-point" as he likes to call it!).

Jason Hussain gets an initial post-op' assessment
from top UK physio', Dr John Allen

The squad's longest-serving athlete who joined coach John Powell back in 2005, has always had a sporadic Achilles tendon problem, and it flared up again early this year.  Finally resorting to advice from the country's leading medic's, he underwent surgery 2 weeks ago to finally resolve the issue.

"I had the Planters tendon removed," he explained.  "It had apparently attached itself to the Achilles tendon, and there was a fair amount of scar tissue that was also taken away, so I'm really hoping this will finally sort things out and I will be able to train properly once it has healed."

Aged 29, Jason has plenty of time to recover and yet produce his best over either 100m or 200m, with his aspirations underlined by his coach as totally achievable.

"Jason has always had something that has prevented him from going that extra mile toward achieving his goals," said John Powell.  With luck, he's sorted a major problem out now, and that will allow him to train at full capacity.  He knows what he has to do now, so we will just have to  see how things go."

Hussain isn't the only Trackspeed1-UK star who has been frustrated by injury this year.  Niclas Baker opened his season with a phenomenal lifetime best mark of 47.41s over 400m, and then promptly fell down the stairs at home and injured an ankle that, five weeks down the line, is only just recovering!

Sam Imhogiemhe was another superb lifetime best performer when he won the Essex 100m County Championship, clocking 10.74s to rubbish his previous recorded best of 11.5!  A hamstring tendon injury, however, then kicked in, and he is only just returning to training!

"We all live on the edge in this sport" commented John Powell, "and to achieve our best we have to push our bodies to the limit.  The trouble is, neither coach nor athlete always know where that limit is, and if you exceed it, or try to something at the wrong time or in the wrong way, it can be curtains to such a lot of hard graft.

"It is incredibly frustrating, but we have a very mature group this year and they know where they are at.  If we can hold on to the majority for 2016-17 then I think could have a pretty impressive season next year.  That said, there are several weeks left in 2016, and I am sure there are impressive shows yet to come!"

LIFETIME MARKS CONTINUE TO FALL

With the exception of three long term injuries, and two other athletes yet to crack their best, and one of those not yet fully back from injury, the whole of Trackspeed1-UK have improved personal records already this season!

Ishmael Smith-John smashed two lifetime best sprints over 100m and 200m

 Two more records fell this weekend (5th June) with Blackheath and Bromley's Ishmael Smith-John improving over both 100m and 200m, and Shaftesbury Barnet's Jerome Lule slashing his previous 100m best mark by over three tenths of a second.

The performances came as the busy June schedule kicks in, with the South of England Championships next up this coming weekend 10/11th June.  Following that the England National under-20 and under-23 Championships take place in Bedford, and then the Olympic Trials and British Championships round off a chaotic month.

Some of the most notable performances this year have emerged early in the season, raising hopes that more may be to come in the championships and later season meetings.

These include Niclas Baker's phenomenal best 400m run which took three seconds off his fastest at this time last year, while David Bolarinwa's return to the group after a four-year absence, saw his fastest 100m time in 3 years recorded in April.  Even Chris Pope, out through injury for virtually two years, returned this weekend to the sub-11 second range over 100m in only his second outing of 2016!

Jerome Lule shattered his 100m best as Trackspeed1-UK athletes continue
to hit the form of their lives this year!

Another quite remarkable achievement was Sam Imhogiemhe's improvement from 11.5 to 10.74 over 100m this year, the only frustration there being that he has since suffered a hamstring niggle that has prevented surely inevitable consolidation on already spectacular improvement.

Niclas Baker has likewise had his progress suspended with a fall at home sidelining him with an ankle injury.  He hopes to be back in training this week after three weeks out - a break that cost him  selection for the England team competing at the Loughborough International last month.

Trackspeed1-UK coach John Powell was cautiously optimistic about his charges' prospects for the remainder of the season:

"It's been a great year so far," he said, "and with everyone setting PB's that is naturally very satisfying for a coach.  The injuries to Sam and Nic have been frustrating, and it's a real pity Jason Hussain has been taken out for the year with ankle surgery imminent, but it's clear the programme is working for most, so that has to be good!"