Joe Makeham’s goal to be the first person to win the 1500m at six consecutive athletics championships of the Athletic Association of Great Public Schools (AAGPS) is on track, taking out his fourth title at Sydney Olympic Park on Saturday 11 May.
Makeham, from Walcha, hit the lead early and stormed home to finish 30m ahead of his nearest competitor in ideal racing conditions, to cross the line in a personal best time of 4:15:03.
“For the first 600m I was trying to work out what was in the race of me as I hadn’t raced any of the others before, but after that I focused on my race plan,” Joe said.
“I was willing to sit in the top three and play cat and mouse if I had to, but it turned out I could follow the plan. By the last straight I was sure I had it even though I didn’t know what was left in the other boys, and I didn’t know until I finished how far in front I was.”
Guyra’s Huw Knox, unable to train for the past two months as he recovers from glandular fever, rose to the challenge in the under-15 800m and crossed the line first in 2:02:49, although his time was slower than the 2:00:40 he won it in last year.
“When I was overtaken at the 500m it wasn’t a complete surprise as that runner had gone out early when we have raced together before, but I knew I still had plenty to kick with 120m to go,” he said.
Despite feeling “pretty exhausted” after the race, he took to the track again as part of the 15 years 4x400m relay team, and then competed in the 4x100m relay – twice.
“We ran our 15 years relay and straight after that I was told I’d have to run in the 16s as well. It meant I had to pull something out of nowhere, but I really enjoyed it.”
Both boys will go on to compete in the Combined Independent Schools championships in August, having taken a spell from athletics for some rugby.
The team of around 40 athletes competed in a range of track and field events against boys from TAS’ eight fellow GPS schools – The King’s School, Scot’s College, Newington College, Shore School, St Ignatius College Riverview, St Joseph’s College Hunters Hill, Sydney Grammar School and Sydney Boys’ High.
