NEWS RELEASE

APOLOGIES

• Sorry for gap in press releases about Janet Achola’s training and racing programme in Germany, a programme shaped by the highly experienced German National Coach for Middle and Long Distance running, Henning von Papen.  The gap was due to the breakdown of my modem and internet connection.

ESSEN 1500m

• On July 14, in a mixed race of men and women, Achola ran her fastest ever 1500m of 4 min 17.45 sec. This was an improvement of 0.36 sec (around 2 metres) over her PB set in Bottrop on July 9. She was 8^th of 12 competitors beating one man and 3 women.
• von Papen commented it was a mixed race due to the fact that there were only a few 1500m women. He felt that Achola has started “smarter” than in Bottrop i.e. she was 2 second slower on the first lap and therefore had a stronger finish. Finally he pointed out that she was slightly blocked by three parallel running male athletes at the end of the race which would have slowed her somewhat and indicates that there is still some room for improvement in her times.

COLOGNE 800m

• In the Cologne 800m (July 10), Achola won the Women’s race in 2 min 09.27 sec
• This was around 3 seconds slower than her PB, but in his email von Papen wrote that it was “quite a good time for the conditions” i.e. intense heat of 36 degrees centigrade, by herself after the dropping out of the pacemaker at 400m (62 sec). Also she would have still been carrying the Bottrop 1500m in her legs from the day before.

COACH’S COMMENT

• Speaking from Kampala, Achola’s coach, Kevin O’Connor, commented: “I appreciate that as the Essen 1500m was a mixed race, Janet’s time will not be used for official purposes. But for we coaches and for the athlete it is yet another PB. It was super that there were several male athletes with very similar times to her, which meant that she experienced the competitive tough race conditions that she often does not get in Uganda. von Papen’s comments reflect the extent she is learning from training and racing under his guidance. Above all, the objective of the German visit – to beat the Commonwealth Games qualifying time of 4 min 19.0 sec was achieved in Bottrop”

KEVIN O’CONNOR