ATHLETE OF THE MONTH: DECEMBER 2011
Richard Goodman
Rich Goodman European Silver 2011 - Velenje, Slovenia
European U20 Silver Individual Medallist and Team Gold - speaks for itself!
ATHLETE OF THE MONTH: NOVEMBER 2011
Mary Wu
Dr Mary Wu has made an impressive start with a 'Top 50' finish in the November Met League after a relatively short period of training. Mary combines her work as a research scientist at the Mill Hill Biological Research Centre with plenty of mileage and is currently in Gambia combining a holiday with community support work providing water pumps for local folk. Mary's target is to run sub 3hrs in the London Marathon!
Dr Mary Wu has made an impressive start with a 'Top 50' finish in the November Met League after a relatively short period of training. Mary combines her work as a research scientist at the Mill Hill Biological Research Centre with plenty of mileage and is currently in Gambia combining a holiday with community support work providing water pumps for local folk. Mary's target is to run sub 3hrs in the London Marathon!
ATHLETE OF THE MONTH: OCTOBER 2011
Freya Lenton
Good start to the winter XC from Freya with an unbeaten record in the NW London YAL XC League and a very pleasing period of training in a challenging group of young female athletes.
Keep up the good work!
Keep up the good work!
Daniel Davies
ATHLETE OF THE MONTH: SEPTEMBER 2011
Congratulations to Dan Davies on achieving his A of M for September 2011 on the back of his fantastic 2hrs 34mins Marathon performance in Berlin.
It takes a quite a while to learn the basics of running long distances but Dan is beginning to show real promise from 3k upwards after a year with the WWA squad. He's unbelieveably strong and is beginning to handle the big volume quality sessions on Tuesdays. He achieved his big 14 minute breakthrough off relatively long mileage, rarely going over 70 miles per week - he will aim for sub 2hrs 28mins at Virgin London Marathon next April.
It takes a quite a while to learn the basics of running long distances but Dan is beginning to show real promise from 3k upwards after a year with the WWA squad. He's unbelieveably strong and is beginning to handle the big volume quality sessions on Tuesdays. He achieved his big 14 minute breakthrough off relatively long mileage, rarely going over 70 miles per week - he will aim for sub 2hrs 28mins at Virgin London Marathon next April.
Claire McMahon
ATHLETE OF THE MONTH: AUGUST 2011
Claire McMahon (Luton AC) continues to make progress and with a 3k 10m46secs at Watford recently is on 'top form'.
By far the most reliable trainer - please note the rest of the squad - excellent communicator and such a hard worker in training. Quite a mud lark over the winter so she'll be looking towards those longer reps on the Copthall backfield with some relish.
By far the most reliable trainer - please note the rest of the squad - excellent communicator and such a hard worker in training. Quite a mud lark over the winter so she'll be looking towards those longer reps on the Copthall backfield with some relish.
Zoe Levin
ATHLETE OF THE MONTH: JULY 2011
Big 'step up race' for the deminutive 19 year old Zoe Levin who clinches the award this month as she ran away with the UKWAL 2k Steeplechase at Copthall as a prelude to a very successful month of competition in a host of activities.
While some athletes just stick to what they know Zoe gives any event a real go so her exploits for Shaftesbury in the NJL include Steeplechase, 100m/400 Hurdles, Pole Vault etc etc. while her perseverance and determination when called up for the Senior Women's team shows what a great 'team player' she is. She was also a SBH team medallist at the National XC last year in Leeds to boot!
Many will not have realised that she is also just as much 'at home' on a horse where she has enjoyed National acclaim success as an equestrian all rounder (Shooting/Swimming/Dressage/Running).
While some athletes just stick to what they know Zoe gives any event a real go so her exploits for Shaftesbury in the NJL include Steeplechase, 100m/400 Hurdles, Pole Vault etc etc. while her perseverance and determination when called up for the Senior Women's team shows what a great 'team player' she is. She was also a SBH team medallist at the National XC last year in Leeds to boot!
Many will not have realised that she is also just as much 'at home' on a horse where she has enjoyed National acclaim success as an equestrian all rounder (Shooting/Swimming/Dressage/Running).
Natalie Connor
Athlete of the Month: June 2011
Another of the Potters Bar 'belles' has made a big breakthrough this month.
Natalie's worryingly poor race form, despite her fantastic training sessions was just not fair so she arrived at a very windy Jarman Park track in Hemel to contest the Herts Schools JG 1500m under some pressue. Straight to the front with a sensible opening 55secs first 300m she relentlessly kept her foot on the pedal and as she realised the EQS was already in the bag she relaxed and propably enjoyed a race for the first time this year. 4m46.3secs was just reward for a winter building strength and new found speed. She will now go to the ESAA Champs knowing that she should get to the final and that a Nat Std time must be her target thereon. She's been a joy to work with and proves that with 6/8 months quality endurance work at the right pace athletes gain the strength to release whatever pace we may have in the tank.
Natalie's worryingly poor race form, despite her fantastic training sessions was just not fair so she arrived at a very windy Jarman Park track in Hemel to contest the Herts Schools JG 1500m under some pressue. Straight to the front with a sensible opening 55secs first 300m she relentlessly kept her foot on the pedal and as she realised the EQS was already in the bag she relaxed and propably enjoyed a race for the first time this year. 4m46.3secs was just reward for a winter building strength and new found speed. She will now go to the ESAA Champs knowing that she should get to the final and that a Nat Std time must be her target thereon. She's been a joy to work with and proves that with 6/8 months quality endurance work at the right pace athletes gain the strength to release whatever pace we may have in the tank.
Phillip Crout 'Cuffley's Choice'
Athlete of the Month: May 2011
I remember seeing Phil run well in the Herts Schools T&F two years ago on the day was blindly determined to recruit what I believed to be potentially one of the most exciting 800m runners I've ever seen. While the runner I'd gone to persuade that humbugs were the vogue never trained regularly enough to even scratch at his potential a year later Phil and his dad arrived at the track with their Trent Park Runners hats asking if Phil could 'try me out' as I always say. I gave them the 'give it a go for 6 weeks' story and he's never looked back. I remember Harry Wilson saying 'never turn away a keen athlete - if they have half a brain they will listen and reap the rewards of your wisdom'. There's no doubting Phil's intellect and this Dame Alice Owen's School student has an impressive work ethic. Progress over the country was solid if unspectacular but I secretly felt the track, where he could use his impressive speed, would be his forte. He is a naturally keen judge of pace during a race and while every race is something of a 'leap into the unknown' he learns so very quickly.
April 2011 saw a 7 secs improvement to 4m13secs over 1500 and following a good win in the first YAL he tackled the Watford Open on 18th May with even paced laps of 70 secs going through 1500m in 4m21 before posting a 46.5 secs over the last 300m to record 8m44secs and go 2nd on the 2011 UK U17 rankings with the promise of more to come.
April 2011 saw a 7 secs improvement to 4m13secs over 1500 and following a good win in the first YAL he tackled the Watford Open on 18th May with even paced laps of 70 secs going through 1500m in 4m21 before posting a 46.5 secs over the last 300m to record 8m44secs and go 2nd on the 2011 UK U17 rankings with the promise of more to come.
Achraf Charkaouti-Essouin (Sp??!) 'The Radisson Chalk Farm Waiter'
Athlete of the Month: April 2011
WWA's Parly Hill Squad regular. 12:15pm (just as much as 12:15am) is an interesting time to train but the combination of NW5 parking restrictions during the day and 3pm - 11pm 'Waiter Working Shifts' mean a compromise from all concerned but the results have begun to return despite a debilitating chest infection during much of late March and early April. Of Morrocan descent via Spain Achraf is a very hard working athlete with just the right ethic in everything he does. He opened the season with a solo 2min/800m win following this with a sb 3m57 over the metric mile at the BMC Meeting last week. Aiming to break through the 3m50 'barrier' thisyear and challenge for a place in the SBH BAL team. Training well - hopefully he will now be able to join us on Saturday mornings at our park venues as well.
Ach was a very successful athlete back in Spain, being a member of the National Youth training squad and for a period a full-time athlete before coming over to the UK in search of work.
Ach was a very successful athlete back in Spain, being a member of the National Youth training squad and for a period a full-time athlete before coming over to the UK in search of work.
SOPHIE CONNOR
Athlete of the Month: March 2011
First Year Under 20 Sophie Connor will be looking forward to the track season with no little confidence following a really successful winter on the country which saw her run consistently well amongst the top 6 Senior women in the Met League races, 2nd fastest behind Charlotte Purdue in the Nat XC Relays, U20 Southern Inter Counties winner, Herts Champion, 5th in the Southerns and 11th in the English Schools Champs. A much stronger athlete than last year she will no doubt lower all of her pbs from 400m right through to 3k.
Sophie will concentrate on the 1500 metres this coming track season with the express aim of achieving the European Junior qualifying time of 4m22secs while she also has a realistic chance of challenging for the ESAA 1500m title which she held in 2008.
Sophie will concentrate on the 1500 metres this coming track season with the express aim of achieving the European Junior qualifying time of 4m22secs while she also has a realistic chance of challenging for the ESAA 1500m title which she held in 2008.
JOE SHERRY
'The Cabbies Fare' - Athlete of the Month: February 2011
Joe thoroughly deserves his 'chocolate stripes' this month as he finished a very pleased and muddy 18th U17 at Alton Towers on a course which really suited him well and then yet again at Cofton Park produced the goods. Mr Consistent this season over the country and a really hard worker. As an Enfield Harrier he had to race his mates for most of last season but can always be relied to tackle any of the middle distance events from Steeplechase (5th ESAA Champs) right through the range of events as he hit massive pbs in all events in 2010. Needs to work on his speed this summer so we will be working for 1m56/sub 4mins and even 8m30s over 8 and half laps. Now at school just around the corner from our training base has permitted greater volume and above all, a daily training partner in JP-W.
RICHARD GOODMAN
'The Stanmore Rocket' - Athlete of the Month: January 2011
Interestingly Richard Goodman was discovered at the Brent Borough Champs by Tony Smith as he romped to victory in soccer boots, never having raced before! A few weeks of gentle training saw him progress rapidly to a good placing for Middx at the Inter Counties and in 2009 32nd at the 2008 ESAA Champs in Sefton Park, Liverpool. Track times rermained modest as he learned his trade before winning the ESAA U17 Title in a close tussle with Tom Curr on a very tough, fast course at Stanford Hall.
Plenty of media coverage during 2010 and huge track pbs of 3m45.77secs/1500m + 8m12secs/3k followed.
A much stronger athlete became Southern and National U17 Cross Country Champion (both by significant margins) and stepping up to the U20s both UK Euro Trials and Inter Counties he won well before placing placed 5th in the U20 European XC Champs and 73rd in the World U20 Champs. He also won the World Schools Cross Country Champs by a distance.
After starting the 2010/11 XC season with a good win in the SM race at the Met League Richard suffered two injuries - firstly knee ligament damage following a growth spurt and then a metatarsal soft tissue injury during recupuration which kept him out of serious training until the end of November.
However, a splendid run in the January BUPA XC International in Edinburgh saw him return to race fitness and a very pleasing 27th position (first U20) an U20 title at the Southern XC Champs where he cruised to victory over a surprisingly dry Parly Hill. He will now focus on the Inter Counties and a GB place at the World XC Champs on Sunday 20th March in Spain.
Targets for 2011: Top 30 at World U20 XC Sub 3mins42secs for 1500m and GB selection for this summer's major Junior Championships
Plenty of media coverage during 2010 and huge track pbs of 3m45.77secs/1500m + 8m12secs/3k followed.
A much stronger athlete became Southern and National U17 Cross Country Champion (both by significant margins) and stepping up to the U20s both UK Euro Trials and Inter Counties he won well before placing placed 5th in the U20 European XC Champs and 73rd in the World U20 Champs. He also won the World Schools Cross Country Champs by a distance.
After starting the 2010/11 XC season with a good win in the SM race at the Met League Richard suffered two injuries - firstly knee ligament damage following a growth spurt and then a metatarsal soft tissue injury during recupuration which kept him out of serious training until the end of November.
However, a splendid run in the January BUPA XC International in Edinburgh saw him return to race fitness and a very pleasing 27th position (first U20) an U20 title at the Southern XC Champs where he cruised to victory over a surprisingly dry Parly Hill. He will now focus on the Inter Counties and a GB place at the World XC Champs on Sunday 20th March in Spain.
Targets for 2011: Top 30 at World U20 XC Sub 3mins42secs for 1500m and GB selection for this summer's major Junior Championships
RICHARD CHARLES
'The Hurley Road Hustler' - Athlete of the Month: December 2010
Some background information:
A twin (brother is Chris who has run 1m58secs over 800m) he attends Cardinal Wiseman HS in Greenford where he is studying for his AS levels with a view to possibly undertaking a degree in Law. Richard was encouraged to join the local athletics club by experienced runner, Dave Foley, who was also his PE teacher. Local NWLYAL XC wins became the norm and he progressed through the Met League to represent his Borough, County AA and Schools.
Previously he was at ESM under the tutelege of Steve Mann who guided Richard to International Honours over the country as a Year 9 pupill and an impressive 4m12secs over 1500m. Injury followed for much of the next two years before the lure of joining WW Squad at SBH at the beginning of April 2010 rejuvenated this young lad from Guyana and a different style of training began to reap dividends quite quickly.
Naturally quick (50.3 split over 400m) he worked hard on his basic aerobic capacity and patienently developed a change of pace to produce fast times of 1m54/3m54 over 800/1500 which was to bear fruit at the ESAA Champs when he placed 2nd behind the prodigiously talented Robbie Farnham-Rose of Tonbridge AC beating much more experienced runners such as Conor Robinson and Kieran Clements who had consistently run faster times in the run up to the champs.
SIAB Honours for England at the international match in Scotland followed.
As the season unfolded there were opportunities to race in the Nat Junior League which included a memorable but friendly battle with Rich Goodman in the National Final while his blistering last 600m (1m29.9secs!) in the European Junior Clubs final in Poland decimated the field leaving two sub 1m50 800 runners from Spain and Italy in his wake and will rermain in memory for quite some time.
The autumn of 2010 saw a slow start with the emphasis on building a better base of fitness - moderate early season race results were a reflection of the volume of training and the higher demands being placed on him. The cross country season has seen sparse racing but an excellent period of training just before and throughout the snowy month of December saw him run away with the Middlesex U17 title and then place 2nd in the Cardiff Cross Challenge - a slight disappointment as the early pace of the race was very pedestrian and he has probably learned that he needs to to take more ownership of races.
Now for the big races of the Spring and an altogether different level of racing. He'll be looking to finish top 10 in the Southern and then more on from there.
A twin (brother is Chris who has run 1m58secs over 800m) he attends Cardinal Wiseman HS in Greenford where he is studying for his AS levels with a view to possibly undertaking a degree in Law. Richard was encouraged to join the local athletics club by experienced runner, Dave Foley, who was also his PE teacher. Local NWLYAL XC wins became the norm and he progressed through the Met League to represent his Borough, County AA and Schools.
Previously he was at ESM under the tutelege of Steve Mann who guided Richard to International Honours over the country as a Year 9 pupill and an impressive 4m12secs over 1500m. Injury followed for much of the next two years before the lure of joining WW Squad at SBH at the beginning of April 2010 rejuvenated this young lad from Guyana and a different style of training began to reap dividends quite quickly.
Naturally quick (50.3 split over 400m) he worked hard on his basic aerobic capacity and patienently developed a change of pace to produce fast times of 1m54/3m54 over 800/1500 which was to bear fruit at the ESAA Champs when he placed 2nd behind the prodigiously talented Robbie Farnham-Rose of Tonbridge AC beating much more experienced runners such as Conor Robinson and Kieran Clements who had consistently run faster times in the run up to the champs.
SIAB Honours for England at the international match in Scotland followed.
As the season unfolded there were opportunities to race in the Nat Junior League which included a memorable but friendly battle with Rich Goodman in the National Final while his blistering last 600m (1m29.9secs!) in the European Junior Clubs final in Poland decimated the field leaving two sub 1m50 800 runners from Spain and Italy in his wake and will rermain in memory for quite some time.
The autumn of 2010 saw a slow start with the emphasis on building a better base of fitness - moderate early season race results were a reflection of the volume of training and the higher demands being placed on him. The cross country season has seen sparse racing but an excellent period of training just before and throughout the snowy month of December saw him run away with the Middlesex U17 title and then place 2nd in the Cardiff Cross Challenge - a slight disappointment as the early pace of the race was very pedestrian and he has probably learned that he needs to to take more ownership of races.
Now for the big races of the Spring and an altogether different level of racing. He'll be looking to finish top 10 in the Southern and then more on from there.