The Armidale summer track and field season kicks off one week from today, and the traditional event to launch the new season, will feature 12 of Armidale’s finest 400m runners competing at Harris Park in the 2008 Sportspower 400m Invitational Handicap.

The concept of the race was devised by Australian representative Jay Stone four years ago, aimed at trying to provide an incentive for the field to train hard over winter. Each year Stone teams with Armidale Sportspower to provide hundreds of dollars in cash and prizes for the race winners.

The race works with each of the competitors being allocated a handicap race distance based off their best 400m time from last season.

From this, whoever has improved most over the off-season should win, and be rewarded for that improvement.

The quality field this year boasts all three previous winners of the event, as well as last years second placegetter.

The handicap marks are being released today, exclusively in The Armidale Express, and for the fourth time Stone will be at the back, running a total distance of 450.4m. The gap from Stone to the second back marker this year is almost 30 metres, the biggest gap in the four year history of the event

“It’s going to be very tough this year, there’s a lot of empty grass between me and the rest of the field and I have to ensure I don’t go out too hard trying to make it up too early,” Stone said.

Like last year, six of the 12 participants this year are members of Stone’s Viper Squad.