Tag Archives: Athletic Track

Getting Your Track Repaired

Keeping up-to-date with repair work that’s required on your track is so important. At White Line Services, we offer a maintenance package offering discounted rates to the wash, repairs and remarks of your athletic track. The wash and remark alone should help increase the longevity of your athletic track.

Repairs are always inevitable and part of the wear and tear from athletes but they CAN be prevented in some cases. Tackling them early can help reduce significant costs in the long run.

You can prevent this by keeping the track clean from dirt and grime as much as possible by having your track high-pressure cleaned every year. At the first signs of wear on the track, allow us to come and assess your track to advise the best course of action. This could be either a small respray or a patch repair depending on the extent of the repair.

There are many positives to keeping up to date with the maintenance of your athletic track. For example, a small crack can gradually become a large crevice and will likely become dangerous to your athletes during training.

When a crack appears, the best and most cost effective thing to do is have it repaired as soon as the crack appears.

White Line Services are always happy to chat about any problems on your track and find out the best course of action to increase the longevity of your running track.

Track of the Week: Bill Whistlecroft Athletics Arena, Yeovil

So, the Bill Whistlecroft Athletic Arena, Yeovil, is finally ready for action after the lines have been remarked by our team at White Line Services.

Bill Whistlecroft Athletics Arena, formally known as the Yeovil Athletic Arena, is the only Grade A Athletic Arena in Somerset. This 8 lane synthetic track with field events is home to the Yeovil Olympiads Athletic Club. Renamed in 2014 after Bill Whistlecroft, a local teacher, who sought out athletic talent and inspired and encouraged individuals to try out the sport at whatever level they could. He was an inspiration to the locals and founded the Yeovil Olympiads Athletic Club too.

Here is an action shot of White Line Services at work, taken by the Yeovil Olympiads Athletic Club.

A successful job done, and the Yeovil Athletic team we are sure will be keen that the track is ready to use again.

If you would like more updates on the work we are carrying out, please follow us on Twitter, Facebook and Google+.

Track of the Week: David Weir Leisure Centre

The David Weir Leisure Centre (which used to be known as Sutton Arena) is named after the British Paralympic wheelchair athlete David Russell Weir. David Russell Weir has won a total of six gold medals dating from 2008 to 2012. Not to mention winning the London Marathon on six different occasions. Born in the London borough of Sutton, it seems apt for a leisure centre and athletic track in Sutton to be named after this sporting superstar.

David Weir Leisure Centre, run by Everyone Active, has both an indoor 6 Lane sprint track and an outdoor 8 Lane 400m track plus Pole Vault, High Jump, Throwing Cage, Javelin, Shot Putt and 2 Jump Pits.

The indoor 60m sprint track provides athletes with the ideal winter training facilities. The track itself is a 60m track with a 22m run off. There is also a pole vault, high jump, throwing cage and 2 jump pitts.

Below you can see our recent repair work to lane 3 of the indoor track which is barely visible now that the repair has been matched to the surrounding green synthetic track surface.

Athletic Track Equipment: Lane Saver Gates

For the longevity of your athletic track, White Line Services Ltd would recommend that you install lane saver gates around the inside lane of the athletic track to prevent athletes consistently using lines 1 and 2 of the track during their training. In general, athletes who train on your running track will tend to run along the inside lanes, which over time can cause significantly more wear and tear to those lanes than to the rest of the track. The increased impact to the inside lanes overtime could then require further maintenance and repairs which are costly. With the use of the lane saver barriers that White Line Services Ltd supply and install, the life of the inner track lanes will hopefully be prolonged and will give your track many more years of happy training for your athletes.

The lane saver barriers we install and fix are made of galvanised aluminium which can be secured into place and rotated 90 degrees to close lanes 1 and 2 of your track. Very simple to use, the gates can be lifted, rotated and moved into the ground sleeve. The ground sleeve can then be locked using a padlock to keep from being moved.

Track Washing at Radley College

Last week, our team were at Radley College in Oxfordshire, washing their 400m athletic track. The track itself was covered in moss and lichen, making it very slippery and in need of some TLC. The machinery we use to clean the track, cleans at force to ensure that all moss and particularly lichen is high pressure cleaned off the surface.

In this picture, you can see our team have cleaned the track in one path revealing the lovely red track that’s been hidden below. On half of the above picture, you can see the pre-washed track with the remaining green moss and lichen and on the other side, you can see the track has been restored back to its former glory. The running track is now completely moss free and ready for the summer term athletic season to begin.

For more information about our track washing services, visit our sports surface cleaning page or call us for a quote: 01342 851172

Event Plates and Running Track Kerb

White Line Services doesn’t just paint white lines, along with track and sports hall maintenance and washing, we also offer a whole range of other services including certifying your athletic track and also providing track kerbing and event plates.

If you need custom made stainless steel event plates, White Line Services supply and install colour-coded stainless steel identity plates for Athletic Tracks all across the UK. These plates highlight the start and finish lines, changeover points and hurdles around the running track. Now shipping to America, we package and ship the plates all across the UK and America should you wish to install them yourself.

White Line Services also supply UPVC running track kerbing. The great advantage for using our UPVC kerbing is that there is no scrap value to the kerbing; therefore it’s less likely to be stolen. The white PVC kerbing looks smart around the inner lane of your athletic track and won’t fade in the sunlight, leaving a clean white kerb around the track for years to come.

Track of the Week: Linford Christie Stadium

The Linford Christie athletic stadium is an all-weather 8-lane 400-metre track. There are two 8 lane 100-metre straights plus athletic field areas including high jump, long jump etc. Named after the former British 100m Olympic gold medalist, the Linford Christie stadium is located in West London.

Home to one of the UK’s top athletics clubs, the Thames Valley Harriers, this London based athletic track provides London with a great home for training and hosting sporting events.

linford christie indoor

In 2015, White Line Services relaid, resprayed and repainted the indoor sprint track. There was also work carried out to replace the base layer of the track and install new kerb stones around the edge.

To view some of the other projects White Line Services have carried out in the UK and across the world, visit our website.

High-Pressure Sports Surface Cleaning

Maintenance is so important for the overall up keep of your athletic tracks and sports surfaces. By having White Line Services give your sports surface a high-pressure clean will remove any dirt, grime and contaminants including most weeds and moss, leaving your surface in prime condition for your next events.

Our AquaVac mobile cleaning machines are fully equipped with a high-pressure water pump which cleans using pressures in excess of 2000 PSI. The machines clean 4ft (1.22m) at a time making them perfect for cleaning a full lane width at a time. The finished product will have no overlapping marks, spray marks or wobbly lines, and we guarantee you will be pleased with the finished result.

The AquaVac is also designed to collect and dispose of any dirty water, by vacuuming it off the surface and pumping it away down the drain. We collect and dispose of all dirty water and we won’t leave site until you are entirely happy with the quality of your clean.

The machines are compact so we can easily clean both indoor and outdoor sports facilities.

By having your track cleaned every year or two will ensure that any dirt and grime doesn’t cause major damage to your track and sports courts which over time would be very costly.

Here you can see our high-pressure machine in action, cleaning a full lane width at a time.

UK Athletic Sporting Calendar in 2016

What can we expect from the athletic sporting calendar in 2016?

Well, after a long 4 year wait since the last summer Olympic Games in London 2012, this year we have the 2016 Olympic Games taking place in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Unfortunately, you will have to wait until 5^th August for the games to kick off, so in the meantime, here are a few other athletic sporting events for you to look out for.

Glasgow Indoor Grand Prix

20th February

With double Olympic and five-time world champion Mo Farah competing, plus Jessica Ennis-Hill, and long jump champion Greg Rutherford all competing in the Glasgow Indoor Grand Prix, you definitely don’t want to miss out on this event. Taking place on 20^th February at the Emirates Arena, Glasgow, you can tune into witness the best single day of indoor athletics that Scotland has ever seen.

Virgin Money London Marathon

24th April

A tradition for over 35 years, the London Marathon is a long- distance running event that occurs annually every spring. Approximately 38,000 runners will be braving the start line this April, so don’t forget to watch the race kicking off, especially if you know someone competing.

Diamond League Athletics

4th June

IAAF Diamond League Athletics hosted in Birmingham will be kicking off at the Alexander Stadium on 5^th June 2016. Attracting some of the biggest names in sporting history, this outdoor event kicks off the outdoor Athletic season in style.

British Athletics Championships

24th – 26th June

Another sporting event at the Birmingham Alexander stadium, this time the best of Britain will be here, ready to be crowned British champion, as well as win their place in the British Athletics team for the Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro.

London Anniversary Games

22nd – 24th July

Located at the Queen Elizabeth Park Stadium at the Olympic Park, the London Anniversary Games as another huge annual sporting event, where some of the top athletes in the world will be competing. This year, legendary Usain Bolt, the world’s fastest man is set to compete.

Although some of us wont be able to make it all the way over to Rio de Janeiro to support the Olympic Games 2016, we sure will be tuning in the support the Olympic Games 5^th– 21^st August followed by the Paralympic Games 7^th-18^th September.

The Importance of Sports Surface Maintenance

Here at White Line Services, we can’t stress enough the importance of keeping up-to-date with the maintenance of your athletic track and sports courts. In order to ensure your facility is ready for action at all times and to prevent the occurrence of injuries on damaged surfaces, this is what we suggest.

For your athletic track, be sure to keep your track clean. When dirt begins to form, if not deal with, this can cause severe damage if continually used. If during the winter months your track has dirt and moss, this can cause an icy and slippery surface for anyone training on it. The conditions of your track could then worsen and potentially cost you more in the New Year.

We recommend that you get your track and sports courts high pressure cleaned every 2 years to prolong the life of the surface and provide the best conditions for your athletes.

To keep your tracks or sports courts looking their best, you might need to get the lines repainted. White Line Services use extremely durable, top quality paint that is weather resistant and will give you many years of service.

We also offer a surface repair service which involves the eco-friendly removal of moss, dirt using our high pressure aqua- vacuuming machine and the repair of small holes across your surface. By re-texturing and restoring damaged areas will help prevent major maintenance issues.

The benefits of keeping up-to-date with track maintenance means that in the long run you will reduce the overall cost by potentially preventing costly damage to your tracks and sports courts.

To find out more about how our maintenance services could help you, please contact us for a quotation today at office@white-line-services.com.

To follow some of the maintenance work we provide, follow us on Facebook and Twitter @whitelineserv.

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