Wayne DuBose
In 2005, Wayne completed his 30th year of competitive athletics, having had an eight-season break while living in America from 1984 - 1993. Wayne's first competition was at a Hackney Downs School track and field outing at Victoria Park, London in 1968. The following year, his PE teacher, Jack Singer, recommended he join VPH and, living less than a half-mile from the clubhouse, he signed up in July of that year. With no coach to latch on to at that time, he lost touch with the club until the following spring when, in preparation for the North London Grammar Schools Championships, he returned to VPH. By coincidence, VPH was hosting a club championship evening and Wayne took part, coming 4th in the Youth Mile in 5:39 and winning his first club championship medal, a silver in the junior discus (25.28 metres). From that day, Wayne, age 15, never lost touch with VPH again. In 1971, age 16, he represented VPH for the first time, competing in seven events in his first-ever Southern League match. With VPH being mainly a running club, Wayne had ample opportunities to compete in the field events and the hurdles. Over the years, he tended to dominate many of these specialty events at VPH, especially the pole vault and the javelin. He has always been ranked club number one in the javelin and the pole vault in all 25 years that he has participated in both (including a 17-year consecutive stretch where he ranked #1 in the javelin, competing just once in 1985 and 1986). In his younger days, such was his thirst for competition that on 10 May 1972, between Hackney Downs School and VPH Club Championships, Wayne competed in 15 events finishing off with the 5000m (6 track, 9 field). His prolific years occurred in the mid-seventies, especially during 1973 and 1974 when he set 90 personal bests. Of particular note was during a 1976 Southern League meeting at Newham when, in the space of ten minutes, he set 3 personal bests (at the time, 2 of them were club records and the other ranked #2 all-time). These were the JT - 61.14 (200'7"), 110H - 16.4, and PV - 3.82 (12'6 1/2")). As an aside, just two months earlier, Wayne took part in a London-to-Brighton Charity Walk covering the 54.5 miles in 14 hrs 10 mins. Although never an acknowledged distance runner, Wayne did represent the club over road and cross-country races on 38 occasions between 1971 and 1976. His moment of glory came in 1973, when he beat John Anstey and Alan Barber, two of VPH's all-time distance-running greats, over a 5.1-mile cross-country course. In 1984, upon his nine-year return to the States, he was elected Life Member, age 29. In 1993, Wayne returned to England, and, although he has dabbled in Master's competition (winning U.S. and U.K. national titles), Wayne has tended to concentrate on Southern League competition, club championships, producing the club magazine, and attending Board meetings. In his Southern League career, which lasted from 1971 to 2004, Wayne competed in 660 events over 129 matches, winning 197 events and scoring 2,326 points (with 12 events' positions unknown). At the 2001 AGM, after serving an unprecedented four years as Club President, Wayne was elected as Life Vice President, only the 14th VPH'er to be accorded this honor in the Club's 75-year history.
United Kingdom Veteran's Decathlon Champion 2000
United Kingdom Veteran's Outdoor Pentathlon Champion 2000
United Kingdom Veteran's Indoor Pentathlon Champion 2000
United States Veteran's Outdoor Pentathlon Champion 1995
United Kingdom Veteran's Indoor Pentathlon Champion 1995
Cambridgeshire County 400m hurdles Champion 1994
Virginia State Veteran's over-35 200/400H Champion 1990
Middlesex Senior Decathlon Champion 1976
Represented Great Britain in Under-20 International vs France (first GB finisher) 1974
(Wayne's score in this international placed him 6th all-time on UK Junior Decathlon Rankings)
Bronze Medallist in AAA Under-20 Junior Decathlon Championships 1974
Represented Great Britain in Under-20 International vs France (first GB finisher) 1973
Silver Medallist in AAA & SCAAA Under-20 Junior Decathlon Championships 1973
Shared Sullivan Trophy (VPH Athlete of the Year) 1972
North London Grammar Schools Champion - Senior 110H 1972
North London Grammar Schools Champion - Middle PV (equalled championship record) 1970
VPH Club Senior Track and Field Championships (1970 - 1984, 1997, 1999 - 2005)
100 - 1
200 - 2
400 - 2
110H - 2
400H - 5
LJ - 2
HJ - 4
TJ - 4
PV - 2
SP - 11
DT - 13
JT - 17 (first win age 15)
HT - 5
Pentathlon - 14
TOTAL - 84 (Club Record)(plus 5 Junior Champs - LJ (1), DT (2), JT (1), HJ (1))
1972 - 1978 Committee Member, Magazine Editor, Track Captain, Social Secretary
1994 - 2001 President, Treasurer, Magazine Editor, Committee Member
100 - 11.6 (1976)
200 - 23.1 (1974)
300 - 37.1 (1975)
400 - 49.8 (1976)
800 - 2:00.1 (1973)
1000 - 2:43.0 (1973)
1500 - 4:23.2 (1981)
mile - 4:45.4 (1975)
2000 - 6:11.8 (1981)
3000 - 9:40.7 (1981)
5000 - 16:58 (1981)
10000 - 37:12 (1981)
110H - 16.4 (1976)
400H - 56.4 (1976)
3000SC - 10:28.7 (1981)
LJ - 6.30 (1976)
HJ - 1.75 (1979)
TJ - 12.14 (1974)
PV - 3.82 (1976)
SP - 12.03 (1980)
DT - 37.58 (1975)
JT (old) - 61.14 (1976)
JT (new) - 51.14 (1995)
HT - 27.97 (2002)
Pentathlon - 3150 (1975) (1985 tables)
Decathlon - 6151 (1976) (1985 tables)
5 Miles - 27:22 (1981) 2 x VPH figure-of-eight course
3.5 Miles - 19:17 (1977)
10 Miles - 58:12 (1977) 4 x VPH figure-of-eight course
20 Miles - 2:12 (1975)
1973 - 20th in Senior Decathlon, 2nd in Junior Decathlon
1974 - 14th in Senior Decathlon, 2nd in Junior Decathlon, 19th in Junior 400H, 22nd in Junior JT
1975 - 13th in Senior Decathlon
1976 - 16th in Senior Decathlon, 48th in Senior JT
Additional Wayne Athletics Achievements
Wayne's Home Page