Runners of the Month, First Half of 2019

Suzy is our first ROTM for May. Suzy won one of our club members places for the 2019 Virgin London marathon and once she had her place she knuckled down to a disciplined winter training regime to ensure she shone in her second time on the streets of the capital. Come April she ran a fabulous and very measured race & crossed the line comfortably with the usual huge smile on her face. Suzy is always highly supportive of her club mates, and outside of her running she loves her bike too; she recently completed an 80-mile charity ride. Well done Suzy, keep smiling …

Neil is our second ROTM for May. Neil competes exceptionally well at all distances. At the recent Newport Marathon he set himself a new PB target of 3:45, which following his solid winter/spring training he went one better, finishing in 3:44 & smashing his previous best by more than 12 minutes . He recently set new PBs for the course at Berkeley & Northleach 10Ks following Newport. Neil is also a keen triathlete often competing with family Tring too. Most recently he picked up a category win at Gloucester Tri on Sunday. Neil also rocks the John McEnroe headband better than anyone we know. Keep it up Neil……

Hester is our first ROTM for March. Hester is a dedicated athlete & works hard both on & off road.
Hester is a stalwart of the Monday track sessions and has shown great determination to improve which has seen her technique come on greatly. She’s also hugely supportive of others including the coach! And happy to assist with demonstrations, always leading by example. Probably most importantly, there’s usually a vegan cake available at the end of the session too.
Unfortunately finding an in-action shot of Hester has proved tough. Here she is though leading the way for her Cotswold Way Relay Team last summer, although we hope she abides by the rules a bit better this year!

Our second and final ROTM for March is Lesley. Lesley is a regular, very popular member of the Thursday morning running group as well as building up a highly credible list of achievements. Lesley is the club record holder in her age category at 5k and 10k. She was 1st lady in her category in the very demanding Jurassic Coast Challenge last July, 100km over 2 days in 14hrs 47mins. She smashed the club 5-mile record in her category at the Linda Franks in an excellent 38:46 and got a new parkrun PB a week later in 24:30. 
Keep up the good work Lesley and enjoy The Exmouth 2-for 1 hospitality!

Shaun is our first ROTM for January. Shaun is a dedicated athlete & works hard both on & off road to turn in some highly credible performances. He is a regular track almost that has helped him no doubt to some strong PBs of late, plus a regular at XC. At parkrun he is well in the sub 20-minute bracket & within a few weeks of each other at the end of 2018 he PB-ed at 19:09 & then at 19:04. At the 7-Sins in the Forest he was 2nd overall in the 14 miler. Shaun took 10th overall and a new PB at the Evesham 10K and just this weekend he conquered the Mayhill Massacre with 5th place overall and 1st in his age category. Great work Shaun!

Our second and final ROTM for January is Ollie Nolan. Ollie certainly had an interesting 2018. He returned from breaking his ankle in September to running, getting 1st in his age category in the Severn Bridge night run in November and coming 2nd in his age category overall for our road running race series. He is a very supportive member of the club and continues to support at events even when he couldn’t run. He completed his last event of the year at the Evesham 10k supporting and encouraging a run2help runner of which he is a stalwart member. The very next day he had his Brain Tumour diagnosis from which we are now thankful he is well on the way to recovery from. Keep it up Ollie!