Jumping Jack’s Dash.

Jack Sumners Another week another international hurdles success story. This week it's Jack Sumners in the US of A. The current UK rankings below show Andrew Pozzi and Jack Sumners as having run 2 of the 5 quickest times of the year. I guess that means the club's hurdling coaching has been doing something right over the years. There is also Tim Hutchinson's report on two crazy ultras that he and Matt Sims completed over successive weekends. Crazy but pretty impressive. Finally I've revisited the newsletter from 12 months ago. It's been one hell of a year but there is light at the end of the tunnel. Take care. Best wishes. David Jones The current UK rankings. On the podium. Well done Jack. Jack Sumners. Report - Paul Bearman When athletics competition in the UK has effectively been absent during the winter, Jack Sumners has enjoyed another good season competing for the University of Northern Iowa in America. The US is split into different conferences consisting of around 8-14 different universities and Jack’s conference includes 9 universities in the Missouri Valley. Every conference has their own championship which is a massive occasion in the US athletics calendar and is similar to the UK’s BUCS (British Universities and Colleges) championships. For obvious reasons the UK champs were again cancelled this year meaning SUAAC’s several university athletes haven’t had the opportunity to compete again. Unlike most of his UK counterparts and despite often freezing conditions in Iowa, Jack has the benefit of training in the fabulous indoor facility on his doorstep on campus, as well as the outdoor track and competing in top class sporting arenas in the Missouri Valley. A hamstring problem hindered the start of Jack’s indoor season and he left the long jump on the back burner for the indoors and worked hard on improving his hurdling for the main outdoor season. In his opening hurdles competition, he ran 8.23s and followed this in his second competition with 8.13s in a new pb; so a gradual improvement. In the Conference he ran 8.18s in his heat and was the 3rd fastest qualifier so he knew he was in was in the mix for a medal. In a highly competitive race, after a sharp start and a clean run Jack ran 8.00s in another PB for the bronze medal. In addition, Jack helped Iowa Uni to again win the men’s championship for the second year running. Roll on the summer competitions in both the UK and US. The Crazy Gang - Tim Hutchinson and Matt Sims. Fin Hutchinson and Ryan Bakewell offering moral support. Beware of the Bull - Knowing them both, I couldn't possibly comment. Too much coffee Tim ? Goggins 4 x 4 x 48 and Dawn Till Dusk Ultras. Two races and two very different types of tiredness. Report - Tim Hutchinson I've never really been an ultra runner but I had Escape from Meriden on my "to do list" for a while, so last year I…