Joined Crook AC: May 2019
5k PB: 16:23
10k PB: 35:06
Favourite Discipline: 800 meters
What do you enjoy about Crook AC: everyone encourages each other to improve
What’s your favourite Race?: North East Track & Field Championships. This attracts the best runners from the area, including current and future Olympians
Proudest moment as a Crook AC Member: breaking the all time club record for the track mile in a time of 4:38.40 at Gateshead Stadium in August 2023.
How/why did you end up joining the club: I was never a runner. I trained/played football at least 5 days a week. I once got dragged along to this thing called Parkrun at Hardwick Park in Sedgefield in 2017, and I loved it. I started going to Sedgefield every week, and I started to get quicker. I eventually got a first finisher, and a work colleague mentioned me to the clubs captain, who passed the club details to me. I initially had no interest, due to football, and thinking I’m nowhere near the standard of a running club. Eventually, in 2019 I popped along to my first session, and it’s the best thing I’ve done.
I couldn’t have been more wrong about a running club. Everyone is so welcoming, especially to people like myself who didn’t know anyone. This is the complete opposite to football. Over time, running started to take over from Football, to the point where I no longer play at all.
