It’s been a privilege to travel to and from the 2012 BUCS Athletics Championships with the victorious Loughborough Student Athletics Club.
It is very kind of them to offer me a spare space on the coach but as I type it’s a very subdued atmosphere approaching Cambridge services.
It’s understandable that the majority are pretty tired after such an intense four days of competition. The first athletes would be getting to the stadium before eight o’clock and the last athletes wouldn’t be leaving until the end of the last session almost 14 hours later.
In Bedford, the hosts of last year’s BUCS, sessions wouldn’t go beyond 6pm.
In addition, the hard Mondo track which has been credited with a number of personal and championship bests throughout the weekend has also taken its toll, especially on those who have competed in three rounds (heats, semis and finals) in multiple events.
Initially I was surprised that there weren’t more celebrations at the eight golds, two silvers and two bronze medals they won today alone, but these are athletes who are hitting the peak of fitness at just the right time of the summer season.
As I glance around, a fair few have already nodded off to sleep, which will probably please their coaches. The Loughborough International Athletics is in just 13 days so it’s got to be vital that the team get their rest ahead what I imagine will be a tough few days of training ahead of May 20.
The LIA looks like being a really competitive and entertaining meet this year, for many it’ll mark the start of the summer season and the final preparations for 2012 will begin in earnest.
I look forward to watching more from the Loughborough students over the coming summer but in the meantime, it’s off to McDonalds for some energy. And I suspect, they’ll be a few more people spending money than there were on the journey down.
