MEETING AIMS TO INSPIRE
By Jon Mattos

Organisers of the Kingston Open are hoping Sunday's meeting will get the whole country talking about Hull and inspire the future generations ahead of the 2012 London Olympics.

Kingston upon Hull AC have undertaken a massive revamp of their pre-season warm-up meet in a hope of putting the club firmly on the map.

In the past the traditional April event would receive only a few hundred athletes from the local area but this year's meeting at the Costello Stadium in west Hull has attracted 721 entrants from as far afield as the Channel Islands.

Athletes will be offered a professional meeting with electronic timing - the likes of which they only get at the major championships - all of which will take place under the glow of the floodlights with music playing throughout the day.

"A meeting has to be entertaining. The thrill of athletics and just viewing it at a local level has largely passed," said meeting director John Brant. "Modern athletes and spectators require entertainment, a presentation package. The open this year is an attempt to change and react to what athletes want.

"Athletics has to change from grassroots to the top level if it is to survive as a viable sport in the twenty-first century."

And the incentives on offer - including big cash prizes in the 100m, mile and hammer - have really attracted some top names to head to our region. In the hammer two of the UKs best, Zoe Derham and Andy Frost, will be competing against the best Kingston's talent pool has to offer - with Great Britain junior Alex Smith the pick of the squad.

And with former Olympic thrower and BBC broadcaster Paul Dickenson set to commentate on the event - it is not hard to see why the event has captured the imagination.

Kingston's finest young athletes will be able to use the event to see how they fare alongside the very best in the UK.

On Camp with Kelly Holmes star Nikki Maddick and Rob Hodges will fancy their chances over four laps, starlet Annabelle Lewis can further enhance her growing reputation in the sprints, while younger talents Sami Sajkovic and Tom Smith will look to capitalise on superb seasons over the cross country.

The meeting at Costello Stadium starts at 10am and each age group will take place in blocks of two hours throughout the day - starting with the under-11s and ending with the seniors showpiece just before 6pm.

Entry is £3, which includes a 72-page glossy programme, while their will be extensive refreshments, stalls, face painting, dancers and a chance to meet the future British Olympic hopefuls.

Claire Bowman is aiming to end her athletics career in spectacular fashion by coming home from the World Masters Championships with a medal around her neck.

The 42-year-old Kingston upon Hull AC athlete has targeted the September event in Italy as her very last before retiring from the sport.

Bowman, who lives in Anlaby, has been building up her training over the past 18 months so that she is in tip-top shape come her onslaught on both the triple jump and long jump.

And the experienced athlete gave herself the perfect fillip in her build up by claiming gold and silver at the Indoor British Masters Championships at Lee Valley in Essex.

In only the second meeting at the venue since it opened in January, Bowman took silver on the first day of competition in the long jump with a best of 4.21m before winning the triple jump with a best of 9.37m on day two.

"It went a lot better than I thought it would," explained Bowman, who works as a banking advisor with Yorkshire Bank.

"I missed two weeks of training in February with illness and thought I had missed too much training to do well.

"I couldn't eat and I had jellied legs - and as a jumper that is not ideal. But my technique is quite strong and all the training I have done over the years pulled me through."

It was the first time Bowman had won an indoor medal since becoming a veteran seven years ago, but by no means was it the first medal of her life. Bowman has been competing for Hull since 1985, first for City of Hull - before all the athletics clubs in the city amalgamated in 2001 from which time she has worn the gold and blue of Kingston.

She started as a high jumper and was dominant on the county scene, with a best of 1.55m. But a lack of height meant she made the switch to the sand pit in 1992 and has gone onto to claim a glut of medals locally and nationally ever since - both as a senior and veteran.

In 2006 she was ranked fifth outdoors in the triple jump in the UK and 10th in the long jump and has now made the decision to compete for Great Britain for the first time.

She added: "The indoors was just a stepping stone. My priority is Italy. I wanted to do one major championship - get all I can from my body before I call it a day.

"I will be competing at the club open but I won't do as many competitions in the summer as I want to save up for a big jump in the summer."

"My knees are on their last legs and my body is telling me it's about time I stopped. It's a big commitment time wise."

The former club secretary and treasurer, who trains six times a week, will be in action at the Kingston Open on Sunday, April 8 at the Costello Stadium.

'CHANGE' IS THE BUZZ WORD AS MEETING AIMS TO SET PRECEDENT
By Jon Mattos

Meeting director John Brant is eager for the Kingston Open to move away from what he perceives as a "dinosaur philosophy" when it comes to organising athletics events in the UK.

Brant, who has been involved in the sport as a competitor, coach and organiser for over 40 years, has masterminded an event which he hopes will be like no other and will help put Hull "back on the map".

The meeting on Sunday, April 8 at the Costello Stadium in the west of the city has been designed to change the way a club open is put together.

Kingston upon Hull AC have put on a pre-season warm-up meet for five years - receiving only a few hundred athletes from the local area.

But Brant was eager for change and to move with the times. And the club have by no means thought small for their new revamped meet.

The blueprint has a more modern schedule making for less waiting around; will see floodlit competition late in the day; is offering £100 to the winner of the three blue ribband events (100m, the mile and hammer); will play music throughout the day as well as have professional dancers; will have call-up areas and bag carriers; has world renowned BBC commentator Paul Dickenson as the host as well as dignitaries giving out medals. And having advertised in national publications the club has not been disappointed with the response.

To date almost 400 athletes have entered and with time to go before the closing date organisers are hoping to surpass the 600 mark - and add to this the plethora of clubs from across the UK that have signed up and you have a meeting that is being much talked about.

"Athletics has changed in 40 years and club open events have to change with the demands of its participants," said Brant.

"We live in a fast moving, and instant reaction era and the sport has to reflect this. "To this end we have aimed to block the events into age group blocks - thus no athlete should have to wait or be here all day for their events."

Costello refurbished their facilities last year with a new all-weather track and state-of-the-art floodlights and the organisers are hoping the meet is a delayed opening party - much like there was in 1979.

When the track was last relaid at the end of the 70s the first meeting, which saw teams from Loughborough, Hull and America, competed in front of over 5,000 paying spectators - all of whom were engrossed by the thrill of the sport.

But fast-forward 28 years and the popularity of the sport has dropped off some what - and with the London Olympics in 2012 fast approaching local clubs are starting to take it upon themselves to change attitudes. And Brant admits he wants to return to those times when "there was a spirit of unrestrained joy in competing", but he recognises that for this to happen things need to change.

He added: "A meeting has to be entertaining. The thrill of athletics and just viewing it at a local level has largely passed. "Modern athletes and spectators require entertainment, a presentation package. We hope to have made changes to facilitate this.

"What cannot occur is a 'dinosaur philosophy' that will not move forward and resists meeting changes so the open this year is an attempt to change and react to what athletes want.

"Athletics has to change from grassroots to the top level if it is to survive as a viable sport in the twenty-first century." The closing date for entries is the 26th March and entry forms can be found on www.kuhac.co.uk.

The Kingston Open has received a massive boost with the news top BBC commentator Paul Dickenson will be present at the event.

The experienced athletics broadcaster will attend the meeting on Sunday, April 8th to be the official announcer for Hull's new top class competition. Kingston upon Hull Athletics Club took the bold step in November to totally revamp their April meeting, which usually only sees local athletes competing.

The club are set to lay on an athletics event, the likes of which Hull, Humberside and Yorkshire has rarely seen - with top cash prizes, professional electronic timing and officiating as well as top local bands and dignitaries, all under the fabulous new floodlights of the new track at the Costello Stadium.

And the confirmation that Dickenson will be adding his experience to further light up the event has added the extra gloss the club were hoping for. Dickenson is a former British and Commonwealth record holder at the Hammer and competed for Great Britain at the 1976 and 1980 Olympics.

But he has since gone onto become more famous for the sound of his voice. This year will be Dickenson's 20th as a broadcaster with the BBC - having joined their coverage in 1987 - and as well as commentating on every major athletics event since then, he has been the voice behind the World's Strongest man coverage and Superstars.

"It's brilliant news," commented chairman Dean Lewis. "Anyone who loves sport will recognise his voice and his reputation in the athletics world is second to none. "It's just a great coup and hopefully that will help us boost the numbers competing even more."

As the Costello Stadium in west Hull brings its athletics facilities into the 21^st century with a whole new face lift one can not help but think back 27 years to when the complex last did the same.

A brand new eight-lane athletics track, with modern floodlighting, has replaced the old, worn surface, which was laid down back in the 1970s.

The track will have its first taste of competitive action on Sunday (April 9^th) with talented young athletes from all around Humberside and Yorkshire battling it out for the honour of being the first to win on the new track.

Kingston upon Hull Athletics Club's Steve Wymark will be trying to coach his young pretenders to opening day honours at Costello - just like he did on Wednesday 20^th June 1979.

That day marked the opening of a new all-weather track in the city and a 19-year-old Wymark marked the occasion with victory over 400 metres in 47.3 seconds. The evening fixture saw a Hull select side, including Geoff Capes, take on teams from Loughborough University and a combined Yale and Harvard collegiate side from America. Sebastian Coe was due to run for the Loughborough side but had to pull out through injury. However, the meet still attracted a crowd of over 5,000 people, who filled temporary stands and the grass banks to cheer Hull to victory.

"It was amazing, to do it in your hometown in front of that sort of crowd. It was inspirational," admitted Wymark, who went on to finish fourth at the AAA championship that year and represent Great Britain at the Europa Cup.

"Twenty-seven years ago athletics was totally amateur. Unless you were at the top level it was very hard to make any money. People ran because they wanted to run.

"That day was something Hull could be proud of.

"The whole banking was covered with people, the fact that so many people paid to watch amateur athletes shows how popular the sport was back then."

"But unfortunately athletics in general is a lot weaker than it was 30 years ago. The money doesn't tend to go into those sorts of things nowadays."

Fast-forward to the present and whilst it is safe to say the banks of the Costello complex won't be teaming with Hull folk that is not to say the future of athletics in the area is bleak.

Kingston-upon-Hull Athletics Club's talented youngsters have shone in the past year; Nicki Maddick was selected by Kelly Holmes for her latest training camp and twin sister Jo represented England in cross country, not to mention Katie Stone earning a Great Britain vest for May's walking World Cup in Spain.

And with the London 2012 Olympics in the forefront of many people's minds Wymark is hoping the track opening can inspire young people in Hull to the same extent it did for Dave Smith.

Hull ace Smith was just starting out in the hammer in 1979 and following his appearance in the three team match he went on to have a glittering career and now sits second on the all-time British list of best throws in the hammer.

"We have a number of athletes in a number of events showing good potential. 2012 is six years away so anything can happen," said Wymark, now a coach at the age of 46.

"We need to start building. There is supposedly going to be a big push for athletics with the London Olympics and hopefully some of that will filter to the grassroots level."

In this respect Leisure manager at Hull City Council, Roger Allison, insists they are looking to bring big events back to Costello so to get young people in Hull interested in athletics again. He said: "When we first did those events it created a spin of afterwards. They were big successes in those days, big magnets for attracting young people to the sport. It's crucial we get at least close to that. "We want to break down the barriers to get youngsters into athletics and now that we have the facilities up to scratch at Costello hopefully we can do that. "It's about capturing and targeting the kids within the City, getting them interested and then making sure they stay interested.

"We're looking to attract high profile personalities and events to Costello again. We can't guarantee an event like that in 1979 but hopefully we'll put some big events on later this year or early next year and hopefully some of these young talented athletes can put us back on the map."

Kingston upon Hull Athletic Club's 6^th spring open meeting, which will see the official unveiling of the new track at the Costello Stadium, starts at 10.30 a.m. on Sunday 9^th April. The opening race will see a one-mile race walk before the big race of the day gets the track programme off and running. This will see two of the brightest under-20 stars in the area go head-to-head, as top Humberside cross-country runner James Johnson takes on Northern 1500m indoor champion Rob Hodges over 3,000m, while the day ends fittingly with the event Wymark won all those years ago, the senior men's 400m.