Annual Police Cadet Competition
Police know just how important it is to keep fit and healthy, after all they never know when they will be called upon to give chase to a suspect should they be stupid enough to try and run from the law! To help keep the police one step ahead, officers are encouraged to stay fit and healthy and receive special training that is focussed to develop skills and improve fitness levels. In May 2006, units from all over London converged on Hendon Police College to compete in the annual Police Cadet Competition.

Cadets come prepared
They arrived knowing competition was going to be stiff and that throughout the day they were going to get tested both mentally and physically.

The training had been done and now was the time to put the training to the test. The squads were each given their assignments and sent off to start their different disciplines.

The Speed and Agility Test
In the sports hall the location for the speed & agility test, the course had been set, the timer primed and cups placed!

This year’s challenge was set by Speed Stacks who were asked to devise a Speed and Agility Course that would test the cadet’s ability and measure the performance of a combined team.

The challenge? Run a set course... The challenge was for each team member to run a set course, at points along the course the cadets had to stop and up-stack and then down-stack sets of Speed Stacks that had been strategically positioned.

"Now running a set course may sound easy but when your hearts pumping fast and you are racing against a clock it takes a lot of focus and control to smoothly stack the cups without the cups crashing to the ground."

The cadets were also aware that officials were watching and that the run would be penalised if it was not completed properly, there was a lot at stake!

How was the challenge devised?
To start the challenge, the first member of each team started a timer on a Speed Stacks StackMat. They then had to complete the course and on completion tag the next team mate to signal their run. The last cadet was responsible for stopping the timer but only after they too had successfully finished the course.

As the timer was connected to a Speed Stacks Tournament Display the teams were able to keep an eye on how well they were doing and this inspired many of the teams to produce great performances.

www.speedstacks.com

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