GRE/British Athletics League Division 1, Copthall, Barnet, London, 15 June 1986

This is my most comprehensive record of a GRE/British Athletics League competition which I attended as a spectator.
It was a Division 1 fixture, held at Copthall Stadium, Barnet, London, on Sunday 15 June 1986. 

I've tried my best to translate my shorthand created at the time. There are many gaps in the results and field event scores; despite consulting my British Athletics 1989 volume (National Union of Track Statisticians) and online http://www.gbrathletics.com/uk/ some peoples' first names aren't known.

However, I'm not providing fuller results and scores for this event, because they've been published in Athletics Weekly, 28 June 1986; even then, some results and scores were omitted, particularly in longer-distance events and individual attempts in field events.
The British Athletics League's website www.bal.org.uk/archive has so far published results only going back to 2004. Consulting 2004's Division 1 results, fortunately they include full competitors' rankings for both "A" and "B" strings, but no details of individual field scores.

Data from Athletics Weekly has been added or corrected for the entries present in my log (in italics).

 

 

                                                

100m - A string [wind -2.1m] - Michael McFarlane 10.58 [1st], Philip Davies 10.82 [2nd] 
          - B string [wind -0.23m] - Jonathan Ridgeon 10.88 [3rd]
200m - A string [wind +0.51m] - Ainsley Bennett 21.16 [1st], B. Watson 21.24 [2nd]

          - B string [wind +0.97m] - Philip Davies 21.12 [1st], Steven Heard 21.50 [2nd]     

400m - A string - Mark Holtom 47.49 [1st]

          - B string - John Herbert 48.13 [1st]

800m - A string - Anthony Morrell 1:49.25 [1st], Kevin McKay 1:50.58 [2nd]

          - B string - Paul Larkins 1:50.02 [1st], Simon Lane 1:52.25 [2nd]

1500m - A string - Alan Salter 3:48.50 [1st], William Dee 3:48.80 [2nd]

            - B string - Harrington 3:55.05 [1st]
5000m - A string - Dave Thompson

110mH - A string - [wind -0.99m/s] - Wilbert Greaves 14.11 [1st], David Nelson 14.24 [2nd], Daley Thompson DNF
             - B string - [wind -2.72m/s] - Anthony Jarrett 14.69 [1st], Ian Moore 14.71 [2nd]
3000m steeplechase - A string - Richard Charleston 9:03.76 [1st]
                                 - B string - B. King 9:24.21 [1st]

 

High jump - A string - Henderson Pierre 2.10m [1st], Trevor Whittle 2.05m [2nd]        
                   - B string - Leroy Lucas 2.05m [1st], Mark Jennings 1.95m [2nd]

Pole vault - A string - Keith Stock 5.35m [1st] [British Athletics League record], Daley Thompson 5.25m [2nd]
Long jump - A string - David Burgess 7.93m [1st] [British Athletics League record but wind speed too great to qualify at +2.2m/s]           
Triple jump - A string - Andrew Moore 15.68m [1st], Michael Brown 15.22m [2nd], Francis Agyepong 15.11m [3rd]
                    - B string - Femi Abejide 15.14m [1st], L. Neil 15.05m [2nd]
Shot - A string - Neil Gray 15.92m, NT, NT, NT [5th]
Discus - A string - Neville Thompson 55.08m [1st], Graham Savory 54.64m [2nd]
            - B string - Christopher Ellis 48.06m [2nd], Neil Gray 38.88m, NT [6th]
Hammer - A string - Michael Jones 68.46m [1st], Paul Head 67.32m [2nd]

DNF = did not finish
NT = attempt counted as no throw
 

I must say that the individuals quoted were competing for their athletic clubs AS A TEAM so some participated in events not in their speciality, in order to gain league points for the club as a whole.

 
 

Overall, looking back, I got scores and rankings largely correct, those added in italics were missed off in the first place, but misheard competitors' names.
It's challenging when there are three or four events going on simultaneously and understandably as I was inexperienced, errors crept in.
Because of that I subsequently rarely recorded data in my purchased programmes from each event.
 

[Originally posted on Facebook, 29 May 2018, revised 29 June 2018]

[Revised 1 July 2018 with introductory clarification on publication of results in print and online]
[Revised 11 July 2018 to reflect Neil Gray's change of name as found in Companies House filing history for EBD Solutions, Bournemouth and Autism Hampshire's annual review 2016/17]
[Revised 10 October 2018 removing Neil Gray's hyphenated surname as he prefers to be known by his original surname]