A visit to London, a cricket match and new personal bests for Elite Athletes!

A relaxing weekend and fast times at Corby A.C. Open Meeting

The athletes enjoyed a couple of rest days over the weekend ahead of two meets in two days this week. After arriving in Southampton after two days in Bournemouth celebrating Maria's birthday, they traveled to London to attend Hillsong Church on Sunday. They visited Buckingham Palace and the National Gallery on their trek to the Dominion Theatre, the venue for the Hillsong Service. They met up with Lanre Badmus, a visitor to Chengelo in the past and an long time friend of Josh Gibbons. Lanre regularly attends Hillsong London and performs in the dance groups for special events at Easter and Christmas Services.

On Monday, after a short session to keep fitness up, the squad visited the Ageas Bowl, home of Hampshire Cricket. Hampshire player Sean Ervine kindly donated six tickets to the squad, allowing them to watch the Royal London One Day Cup game against Lancashire. It was a long match, but an interesting experience and a chance for the athletes to rest ahead of a busy day on Tuesday.

Tuesday was to be an unforgettable day as the group visited Loughborough University for a tour of the Campus and some workshops specifically selected for the athletes. The Chengelo pupils found this day educational and inspiring, especially as they spent an hour listening to Paralympian Sam Ruddock, who has competed for Great Britain in 100m and is due to represent his country later this year in Shot Putt. They also attended the Lab-based Fitness Testing Workshop to see the small margins that can make a difference to elite athletes.

Straight after the visit to Loughborough University, the squad traveled to Rockingham Triangle Stadium for the Corby A.C. Open Meeting. They were joined by Steve and Veronica Banister, former Chengelo staff members, who had come to support the squad in their races.

The first race was the 400m. Maria and Johanna were placed in a fast race and enjoyed the tough competition. Johanna ran a personal best of 58.10 seconds, with Maria a couple of seconds behind in 60.80 seconds. The girls will run their final 400m race at Eltham in the Cambridge Harriers Open Meeting on Wednesday. 

In the past week, the Chengelo athletes have indicated that they would find it "inspiring and encouraging" to watch their coach run in a race. Therefore, Josh Gibbons was running next in the 100m. He was somehow placed in the fastest of the five heats and, despite a good start, he was passed by several athletes in the final 30 metres and finished dead last in a time of 12.60 seconds!

Finally, Chigomezyo stepped up for his second Mile race in 5 days. His previous best of 4 minutes 58.79 seconds was the target, but he surpassed that and recorded a new best time if 4 minutes 55.2 seconds. Chigo once again showed an excellent pace and finished strongly in a sprint finish. He was given the nickname "Chigo Farah" earlier on the trip by Mr Alan Dalton and has now been given a new nickname of "Cruise Control" by his coach due to his consistent speed during races.

The Squad stayed in Wellingborough with various families and will travel to Eltham on the way back to Southampton for the last competition of the week.