Colchester & Tendring AC 20^th

Annual Open Meeting, 30-08-2004

The 4-minute barrier held firm in the latest attempt to go under the magical mark in the Jobserve Invitation Mile at the Colchester and Tendring AC 20^th Annual Open meeting on August Bank Holiday Monday.

A class field, put together by the British Milers’ Club, worked hard behind pace maker Sam Coombs of Dartford AC, but in windy conditions the elusive sub-4 minute mile proved beyond even the likes of GB and Wales international James Thie. Coombs took them to 880 yards and then Andrew Hennessey of Thames Valley Harriers took up the running and by the end of the third lap had opened quite a lead with nobody responding.  With just 220 yards to go Australian international Mark Tucker was the first to react as he scorched past the brave Hennessey, bringing GB under 23 international Adam Bowden and GB and Wales international James Thie into life.  But no one was going to catch Tucker as he sprinted to the line with the clock getting ever closer to 4 minutes.  In the end there was just 3.4 seconds in it as Tucker stopped the clock at 4:03.4, a massive 17 seconds off the stadium record of 4.20.3 set in 1966.

With ten meeting records smashed it was a tough choice for the judges but Tucker’s mile time won him a unanimous verdict and the beautiful solid silver Norman Stang Trophy for performance of the day, along with a cheque for £200.00, a commemorative book and the gold medal.

If the Jobserve Invitation Mile was the spectacular finale it was simply the final course of an impressive menu of superb athletics competition.

With good weather bringing record numbers of athletes from all over Southern England and beyond, the large number of spectators were entertained to some exceptional performances.

The men’s hammer throw is becoming something of a feature event at the Colchester and Tendring Open and this year was no exception with Simon Bown of Newham and Essex Beagles smashing the meeting record by 3.5 metres as he hurled the hammer out to 65.59 metres, just a few centimetres short of the stadium all-time record set by GB International Paul Head some 14 years earlier.

The gusty wind and the heavy rain that it brought during the afternoon conspired to make life difficult for the track runners but it didn’t stop Graham Hedman of Woodford Green with Essex Ladies shaving a tenth of a second off the 100 metres record as he crossed the line in 10.7 seconds.

Lara Tembey of the Orion club set a new record by more than a second in the under 13 girls 800 metres with a time of 2:31.1, but it was in the field events where most records tumbled.

Michael Wheeler of Herne Hill Harriers edged past the under 13 boys discus record with a best throw of 29.93 metres, while Leeana Davies of Harlow AC smashed the under 15 girls discus record by over 6 metres with a magnificent throw of 24.99 metres.

Lewis Taylor of Chelmsford AC putt the shot to a new under 15 record distance of 14.24 metres, an improvement of 2 metres and Sam Higgins of Colchester and Tendring AC improved the under 11 boys cricket ball throw by 4 metres to record 47.8 metres.

In the junior men’s pole vault Liam Wright of West Suffolk AC added 1.5 metres to the record when he cleared 3.80 metres.

While not breaking the meeting record 14 year old Bonne Buwembo of the Havering Mayesbrook club, the current UK number one with the 600g Javelin this year with a PB of 57.78m, threw the javelin in both the under 15 and under 17 age groups and remarkably won both, with throws of 53.15 metres in the younger group and 51.52 metres in the older group and with the heavier 800 gram javelin; a throw that actually broke the UK Record for an under 15 boy with an 800g javelin.  Mark Lindsay held the previous record of 45.95m from 1999.

Event organiser Jamie Tanner was delighted with the days events, “We exceeded our target for entries and attracted some top class athletes in the mile race and other events, all of which made for a great day of athletics.  What was also very pleasing was the support we received from local companies Jobserve, Tesco Greenstead and Sweatshop.  Without their help and that of nearly 100 athletics officials and other volunteers, Colchester and Tendring councils, the Army and St John Ambulance none of this would have been possible.  It’s brilliant when the community gets involved in sport in this way.”

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