It will be a nervous afternoon for the Cardiff AAC British League men’s team tomorrow, 22 August, at Kingston where the fourth and final round of the 2009 series takes place.
We start the day in second place overall, 2 points clear of our old rivals Thames Valley Harriers, and one behind Blackheath. Two teams only are guaranteed promotion and the final match takes place in London!
For the past five days, the eyes of the athletic world have been focused on Berlin and the World Athletics Championships. Amongst the spectators in the Olympic stadium has been the select group of the club’s “Cardiff on Tour” who were there from the first moment of competition last Saturday and will be there until the closing ceremony next Sunday.
Tomorrow evening, Saturday, in Berlin, Rhys Williams will settle into his starting blocks for the first round of the 400m hurdles at the IAAF World Championships.
This will mark the high spot of his first full year of competition since taking the Bronze medal at the European Championships in Gothenburg 1n 2006.
The 400m hurdles, as all world championship events, will be tough with a clutch of top athletes from the USA and elsewhere.
The entry list contains 34 athletes from 23 countries so Wales can be proud to have 2 (Rhys and Swansea's Dave Greene).
On the eve of the IAAF World Championships in Berlin, something different.
Wilson Kipketer is the world record holder over 800m and one of the most stylish runners the world has seen. He took Seb Coe's record that many thought would itself be the ultimate.
Tony Ward was a middle distance coach and is a provocative commentator on athletics. He has written an interesting article on the importance of speed in middle distance running which is reproduced in full. Click more to read it.
Cardiff's evergreen veteran athlete, Alyson Hourihan, has returned from the recent World Masters Athletics Championships in Lahti, Finland, with a bronze medal in the women's discus.
Alyson, who competed in no less than six (yes, six) events, also broke the British record in the throws pentathlon where she finished in 4th place.
Joe Thomas has roared back to form, winning an international 800m race with a fine 1:46.36 at the Copenhagen Athletic Games in the Osterbro Stadium last Thursday, 6th August.
Joe was a clear winner of the race and his time places him second on this year's UK 800m rankings behind Michael Rimmer's 1:46.13. It is only 0.16 seconds outside his own personal best of 1:46.20 set just over a year ago.
Cardiff's senior men's team contested the BAL 10 in 100 cup final at Copthall Stadium, North London, yesterday, 8th August, taking third place behind winners Channel Islands with Blackheath and Bromley second.
Best points winner for Cardiff was Dave Coleman who won the discus with 51.23m and came third in the shot put with 13.88m, both personal best performances.
Grangemouth stadium, Glasgow, was the venue for the third and final round of the UK Women's league series. Cardiff, needing a solid performance to safeguard the team's place in division 2, came fifth on the day and also 5th over the series.
Emma Peters and Emily Brown were Cardiff's only individual winners but, with athletes covering multiple events, the team was safe.
Cardiff's British League men's team travelled to Leeds for a crucial third round match on Saturday last, 1st August.
Last minute withdrawals weakened the team slightly but a good all round performance meant that the team holds on to one of the two promotion places with only one match to go.
David Guest, returning from the European Junior Championships, contributed valuable points competing in four events including a leg of the 4 x 400m relay which Cardiff won.
Cardiff AAC was well represented in the Celtic Games, held in Carmarthen on Saturday last, 1st August. Even if the Welsh team could manage only third place behind first placers Ireland with Scotland second and Ulster fourth, there were some good performances from Cardiff athletes. Lewis Newton was a rare Welsh winner, taking the Under 18 men's pole vault with 4.40m while Sam Cogan set another personal best of 40.46 in the Under 18 women's 300m.