On a gloriously sunny day the Couplands, minus the daughter, headed down to Crawley to compete for / cheer on the Hampshire Schools team. Robbie was selected to run in the 1500m, and we were expecting to cheer him on, in what should be the toughest race of the year to date. As we have seen so often this year Robbie set the pace for the race, completing the first 300m in 48 seconds, continuing with lap times (400m) of 70 seconds. With about 700m to go Harry Boyd from Surrey took on the mantle and pushed forward, taking Zac Mahamed with him and dropping Robbie in to 3rd place with Jesse Magorrian from Kent sitting on Robbie’s shoulder. The burst lasted for only a short period but it was enough to see Harry pulling away from Zac in second creating a gap of approximately 15m. Robbie kicked to try and close up on Harry, and Jesse went with him the pair pulling past Zac and putting Robbie back in to second place. The battle for first place was well and truly won, and with 300m to go Jesse surged past Robbie to take second, it looked a little bleak, would Robbie be pushed out of the medal places? As it happens, NO! Robbie kept Jesse well within his sights and at the 200m to go point kicked hard, closing the small gap between them and urging Jesse onwards. The final placings had Harry (Surrey) in 1st with 4’14” Jesse (Kent) 2nd with a PB time of 4’17” and Robbie (Hampshire) a very close 3rd with another PB of 4’18.5″. A great run by all the boys and a great day for Hampshire. Well done to all athletes who competed in very hot conditions and who showed the South that Hampshire has some bite.
Robbie pushing the Pace with Harry Boyd keeping close.