Cyril Jones – Founder and Club Chairman of Pontefract Athletics Club

 

HISTORY – Pontefract Athletics Club was founded by Cyril Jones on 1st March 2010. The athletics club had previously existed as part of the Ackworth Road Runners Club from 1st April 2001 when Cyril established a Track and Field Athletics section of the club after being elected as Club Chairman in October 2000. The Track and Field Athletics activities of the Ackworth club were officially absorbed into Pontefract Athletics Club on 1st March 2010 under the rules of the governing body of the sport, UK Athletics. The club has, therefore, now been in existence for over 14 years under it's current title and has been participating in Track and Field athletics for over 23 years altogether.

 

Role of Honour – Many athletes from the club have won medals at West Yorkshire Championships, Yorkshire Championships, Northern Athletics Championships, England Athletics Championships, English Schools Championships and British Masters Championships. These are all shown on the club's Role of Honour on the club website along with the names of the athletes, who have been selected to represent England in international competitions.

 

All Time Top 6 – Our website also includes the All Time Top 6 performances for Under 13, Under 15 and Under 17 athletes in the events, which are included in the Yorkshire and District Athletics League.

 

Club Records – Club records for Track and Field and Road Running have been kept up to date on the club website since 1st April 2001.

 

DEVELOPMENT

 

TRACK AND FIELD

 

April 2001 – The club affiliated to the West Yorkshire Track and Field League and has continued to compete in this league at all age groups from Under 11 to seniors.

 

April 2006 – The club affiliated to the National Young Athletes League and competed in the league at age groups Under 13. Under 15 and Under 17 until the league was disbanded at the end of 2012.

 

April 2013 – The club affiliated to the Yorkshire and District Athletics League and has continued to compete in the league at age groups Under 13, Under 15 and Under 17. This league was formed to replace the National Young Athletes League.

 

April 2016 – The club affiliated to the Northern Track and Field League and has continued to compete in the league at age groups Senior, Under 20 and Under 17.

 

Championships – Our athletes have competed in the West Yorkshire, Yorkshire, North of England, England Athletics, English Schools and British Masters Track and Field Championships since 2001.

 

In 2016 Cameron Howes became the first athlete from Pontefract AC to win a medal in a national championships when he won the silver medal in the England Athletics Indoor Championships in the Under 15 Boys High Jump with a clearance of 1.75 metres.

 

In 2020 Richard Howes won a gold medal in the British Masters Athletics Championships in the Men's Over 55 age group with a distance of 4.75 metres.

 

In 2021 Jack Holmes became the first athlete from Pontefract AC to win a medal in the English Schools Track and Field Championships when he won the silver medal in the Junior Boys (Under 15) High Jump with a clearance of 1.81 metres. The following year, Jack won the bronze medal in the England Athletics Indoor Championships with 1.88 metres in the Under 15 Boys High Jump.

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In 2023 Sienna Lavine set a Girls Age 10 World Record for 600 metres with a time of 1 minute 41.34 seconds. In 2024 Sienna became the first athlete from our club to set a UK record when she clocked 1 minute 35.98 seconds for the Under 13 Girls 600 metres.

 

We have also held our own club Track and Field Championships every year since 2001.

 

Open Meetings – Our club has organized Track and Field Open Meetings on a regular basis, both indoors and outdoors, and has a good reputation throughout the Yorkshire county and beyond for it's organizational skills.

 

Membership – As at 31 March 2024, Pontefract Athletics Club had 126 members.

 

The breakdown of membership is as follows:-

 

60 Junior members (ages 7 to 19)

60 Senior members

  6 Non Competitive members (Committee members and volunteers)

 

 

Qualified Athletics Coaches – When Pontefract Athletics Club was founded in March 2010, it had only 2 qualified athletics coaches. The club now has 5 people, who are qualified to coach athletics (2 fully qualified and 3 part qualified). In addition, we have 2 qualified Leaders in Running Fitness.

 

Qualified Athletics Officials – In March 2010, the club had only 1 qualified athletics official. It now has 5 qualified officials (1 Track Judge, 3 Field Judges and 1 Timekeeper). Clubs have to provide officials at athletics competitions, otherwise the competitions would not be allowed to take place.

 

Club Management – The club has a Chairman, Secretary and Treasurer and a management committee of 7. It also has a Membership Secretary and a club Welfare Officer.

 

Relationship with Schools – Over the last 23 years, the club has forged links with many local schools. Cyril Jones has done athletics coaching at numerous local schools and over a period of several years, he organized many inter schools Track and Field and inter schools Cross Country competitions.

 

Training – We have been using the Kings School as our training base since April 2006. The school occupies an excellent central position on the eastern side of Wakefield MDC, enabling us to attract members from Castleford, Knottingley, Featherstone, Normanton, Hemsworth and many of the villages in the area as well as from Pontefract itself and surrounding towns. Strategically, it is important for us to improve the athletics facilities at the Kings School, so that we can press on with our aims for the school to be the centre of excellence for athletics in this area. At the beginning of 2017, we paid for a Long Jump/Triple Jump runway with a polymeric surface at the Kings School and we have our own storage container at the school with a considerable amount of athletics equipment, which belongs to the club. This includes High Jump equipment, Hurdles, a Steeplechase barrier, Javelins, Discuses, Hammers, Shots and Vaulting Poles.

 

We train on Monday nights (7.00 to 8.00 pm) on the full athletics facility at the Dorothy Hyman Sports Centre, Cudworth and we organize Track and Field competitions there just within the club on a regular basis. We also train on Friday nights at the Kings School (7.00 to 8.00 pm, but 1 hour earlier in September).

 

ROAD RUNNING

 

Grand Prix – The club organizes a road running grand prix series of races every year. This usually includes about 12 races of various distances from 5K to half marathon throughout the year. Awards are made to the men's and women's winners in each division at the club's Presentation of Awards Night.

 

Road Rankings – The club also makes awards each year to the road runners, who achieve the best performances in the World Masters Athletics age grading calculations at distances of 10K, 10 Miles and Half Marathon. These age grading calculations take into account each athletes performance by comparison to the world record by someone of the same age and gender.

 

We also make awards each year to the men's and women's Marathon Runner of the Year and the Most Improved Road Runner of the Year.

 

Cyril Jones Athlete of the Year – Our club chairman, Cyril Jones, provided a shield, which is awarded each year to the person, who is considered to be the club's best all round athlete across the 3 disciplines of Road Running, Cross Country Running and Track and Field.

 

 

Championships

 

In 2021 Christine McCarthy won the gold medal in the Women's Over 60 age group in the England Half Marathon Championships in 1 hour 33 minutes 51 seconds. The following year, Christine won the gold medal in the Women's Over 60 age group in the England Marathon Championships in 3 hours 19 minutes 35 seconds.

 

Training – Road Running training now takes place on 3 evenings per week. Currently, these are as follows:-

 

Mondays – from Pontefract Park – 7.00 pm

Tuesday – from Pontefract Park – 7.00 pm

Thursday – from Pontefract Rugby Union Club – 7.00 pm

 

CROSS COUNTRY RUNNING

 

West Yorkshire Cross Country League – The club affiliated to the West Yorkshire Cross Country League in October 2010 and our athletes have continued to compete in the league at all age groups from Under 11 to Seniors.

 

Championships – Our athletes have competed in the cross country championships of the Yorkshire County, North of England, North of England Relays, England and the English Relays at age groups Under 13 to Seniors since 2010.

 

In 2024 Sienna Lavine won the silver medal in the National Primary Schools Year 6 Cross Country Championships.

 

We have also held our own club cross country championships every year since 2010.