Runners of the Month, Second Half of 2017

First up for ROTM in December is Gareth Wilkes. Gareth has worked incredibly hard at his training & in the last few months this has clearly paid off with some very impressive reductions in his times and new PBs. In the half, he took a massive 28 mins off his PB at Cheltenham, but then outshone this a couple of weeks ago when he cracked the 2 hours in 1.59.22 at the Victoria Park race in London. In November he went sub 25 mins at parkrun for the first time and took another massive 10 mins off his 5 mile PB at the Guy Fawkes 5. Well done Gareth, keep up the training & enjoy your running.

As Annie Lennox (google her, Kids) once sang, “behind every great man there has to be a great woman”. Well that sums up Kathy Haig, our final ROTM for December. Husband Paul may have completed his 52 in 52, but it was Kathy in true Almost Athletes support crew style who was out on the road all over the UK & some European trips to help him get there. Despite spending far more time than is good for anyone in a camper van this year, Kathy has upped her running game too this year completing 13 Marathons, Halves, 10k s and trail races herself building up an enviable bling collection. Well done Kathy, awesome running and supporting in 2017.

Next up for ROTM December is Paul Haig, aka Haiggy McHaig as many of you will know Paul. What can be said about a man who to celebrate his own personal half-century took on the challenge of 50 marathons in the year? Well he has done it & gone beyond that too, with his 52nd marathon completed in 52 weeks on November 12th. Not content with that he has thrown in some triathlons including a full IronMan. His achievements have also raised thousands of pounds for Joining Jack, a charity that supports boys with Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy, the muscle wasting & ultimately paralysing disease that is tragically nearly always terminal.  We are all in awe of your achievement Paul.

Our next December ROTM is Virginia Pawlyn. Virginia is a true inspirational member of our club. When most of her contemporaries are putting their feet up, doing a bit of gardening and listening to The Archers, Virginia has dedicated herself to the art of The Marathon. In New York 2017, she not only won her age category, that was absolutely fabulous but also completed the ultimate marathon accolade of completing the 6 majors including Boston, Chicago, London, Berlin and Tokyo. Well done Virginia and don’t even think of stopping. By the way she does listen to The Archers, nothing wrong with that.

Our first Runner of the Month for November is Simon Jarvis. Simon has had a tremendous season as one of our most consistent & quickest performers. He bagged a new marathon PB in Amsterdam with a cracking 3:33. In the half he scored successive PBs in Copenhagen when a 50m front crawl PB would have probably been more likely and then another PB at Cheltenham in 1:25 where he was first Almost home.  He defended his first Almost home title too at this year’s Meteor Mile.  Simon is also a huge advocate of parkrun where he is a fundamental member of the core team at Cheltenham.  Dedicated training & commitment has really paid off for a genuine nice guy. Well done Simon!

Our second ROTM is Hayley Woolnough. A relative new comer to running, Hayley began with a Couch to 5k program only a couple of years ago and has never looked back since. She joined Almosts & has really stepped her races and running this season. She trains hard to deliver some brilliant results with a string of PBs this year including at Cheltenham and Stroud. She has built a formidable partnership with her sister Deborah and at this years Great North Run they had a ball and raised £1000 for Alzheimers research. Hayley always runs with a big smile on her face and the funkiest socks on her feet. We were really chuffed for her too when she got a London Marathon 2018 place, you’ll blast it Hayley!

Michelle is our third and final ROTM for November. Michelle is a dedicated and active member and a real asset to our club. She has no hesitation in volunteering when there is a job to be done as well as of course turning in some excellent performances. She trains hard with some big mileage as well as track training for her speed. At Snowdonia Marathon 2 weeks ago she ran an excellent sub 4 hours on this rather “lumpy” course. This year she has turned to pacing too, bringing home the 1.45 runners bang on target at Cheltenham and Stroud, earning her some brilliant feedback in a runners blog from one particular chap she helped reach his target. Michelle is also a founder member of Cheltenham Junior parkrun where she remains a core team member bringing on the next generation. Great stuff Michelle.

A big shout-out for our first September ROTM Rachael Nolan. Rachael simply loves her running and racks up the miles both home and abroad, as well as some epic cycling too to supplement her training. Rachael is a great asset to the club, helping with run-leading and active in the local couch-to-5k group. She is always very supportive of her colleagues and is a regular volunteer at parkrun. She has also done a marvellous job at getting her mum and dad involved. Mum Beverley went through couch-5k to become a parkrun regular and dad Ollie is now a half-marathoner, most latterly the Great North Run with Rachael. A super example of a family loving its running together.  Good work Rachael, keep it up!

Our second ROTM for September is Michael Grant. Michael goes about his own running in a very quiet and understated way to great effect, boy is he quick. He is though a total asset and support to our club with his weekly training sessions that he gives up so much of his time for. Michael’s hill sessions at the racecourse and Battledown are legendary and have without doubt helped so many of us to improve our running, be this in races or just simply for our fun and fitness. Michael is welcoming and supportive to all those who come along, no matter what standard you are at, he will ensure you get the most out of it. If you haven’t been, give it a go but be warned, you’ll have his “ARMS!” and “HANDS-to-HIPS!” still running through your head in the wee small hours.  Thank you Michael for all your dedication to Almost Athletes.

Our much-missed friend Douglas was awarded our 1st Runner of the Month for August. Doug was an exemplary Almost Athlete, not only for his own running and triathlete performances which were the stuff of legends, but also for the help and support he willingly gave to other members and to the club. In July Doug had tirelessly helped Jules Jameson in her Cotswold Way challenge, spending the entire weekend, day and night, on the road to provide her with all the food, drink and support both physical and emotional that she needed. We recognised this dedication from Doug in his ROTM award. We will always miss him terribly.

Our much-missed friend Douglas was awarded our 1st Runner of the Month for August. Doug was an exemplary Almost Athlete, not only for his own running and triathlete performances which were the stuff of legends, but also for the help and support he willingly gave to other members and to the club. In July Doug had tirelessly helped Jules Jameson in her Cotswold Way challenge, spending the entire weekend, day and night, on the road to provide her with all the food, drink and support both physical and emotional that she needed. We recognised this dedication from Doug in his ROTM award. We will always miss him terribly.