100 days to go!

The landmark of 500 days to go until the London Olympics passed in a blaze of publicity a few days ago, but more importantly to local athletes we are now 100 days away from the Opening Ceremony for the 2011 NatWest Island Games. Unlike London 2012’s Omega countdown clock, which famously broke down within 24 hours of being launched this week, the countdown clock on the Isle of Wight’s official website www.natwestislandgames2011.co.uk is still very much alive and ticking!

Having said that, it does seem to me that the clock has been set 18 hours fast – instead of counting down to the start of the Opening Ceremony at 6pm on Saturday 25th June it appears to be counting down to the Friday midnight. So regardless of what the clock says, if you are reading this at 6pm on Thursday 17th March then there are exactly 100 days to go!

These are exciting times. The days are stretching nicely (even if it is still perishingly cold here), and we are only just over a week away from the first outdoor track meeting of the season on the Isle of Man. This is the Open Meeting organised by Manx Harriers, which takes place on Sunday 27th March at the NSC. Details are at http://www.manxathletics.com/manxharriers/Home.htm

The meeting is open to all age groups from under-13 upwards, but will be of particular importance to athletes who have Island Games ambitions but have not yet achieved guideline performances. There will be other opportunities before the team is picked in mid-April, but not many. I really hope the weather is kind to us that day and it is good for competition.

There’s a great atmosphere around the squad at the moment. Go down to the NSC track on just about any night of the week and you will find several groups of athletes working hard and having a lot of fun at the same time. I have always thought that enjoyment is an absolutely vital element to taking part in any sport, and the laughter reverberating round the NSC during most sessions indicates that our athletes are definitely enjoying what they are doing.

I remember asking Keith Gerrard a couple of years ago whether he still enjoyed running as much as he ever did, and he replied with a smile “When you run as much as I do you have to enjoy it really, don’t you!” I think that sums it up very nicely. NSC staff member James Bishop, not a bad runner himself, was highly impressed with the spirit amongst the athletes training at the track on Tuesday night. He commented that it was great to see such a fine facility as the NSC track being so well used by so many talented athletes – that was really good to hear.

I’ve been keeping a close eye on the Power of 10 and the results pages of Athletics Weekly, and it has to be said that some of our rival athletes from the other islands have been showing excellent form of late in the middle and long distance events. Some of the younger ones are much improved since the last Games, so there’s everything to work hard and be motivated for over the next 100 days. We know we're better than them!!

Middle distance specialist Andy Barron is pictured training at King William's College during a recent Squad Day. After a fine cross country season, Andy is now looking forward to the shorter stuff on the track!