It’s been 6 weeks or so since I last wrote a blog post. Here’s a catch up!

Exeter University sprinters and hurdlers

The Uni athletes went home for the summer holidays a while ago. A few graduates have stuck around and continued training with my Exeter Speed group. A few weeks ago this meant that we had 6 good sprinters (in low 11 form) all training together. This is something that Exeter Arena needs to see more of! One of these sprinters, Ade, competed recently and broke his 100m PB comfortably. I’d love to see him compete more because he’s capable of running sub-11.

I am already planning for the 2024/25 University season. Rumour has it we’ll be seeing more good athletes in September as a result of an improved website and 9 months of good social media content. I’d love to have some athletes attending Exeter to perform. It’s not unfair to say that almost all of the sprinters last year were attending the Uni primarily for educational purposes, and athletics was a hobby (many had never competed before outside of sports days). I value these athletes enormously, but it would be nice to have a few more athletes with more experience who are wanting to commit more to their athletics. In anticipation of this, I’m reviewing all my training methods and seeking to improve everything from training plans to equipment and facility use.

Exeter Speed

My evening training group has continued to be very enjoyable, and it’s been great to have new athletes. I’ve opened the group up to athletes aged 14 onwards because I was receiving a large number of enquiries from athletes aged 14-16 who had been introduced to athletes at school and were showing talent. It has been great fun working with these newbies as they are keen and a ‘blank canvas’, so I can introduce them to sensible training for their stage of development and begin to build the senior athletes of tomorrow!

Other

One of my more amusing projects has been a chap who contacted me about personal training in Exeter because he wanted to win the dad’s race at his kids’ school sports days. Never have I had such a noble cause! After a few training sessions, he smashed it, beating a PE teacher and athletics coach in a race where one dad went rolling an another pulled a hamstring. All part of the dad’s race fun! The teachers at the school my children attend are a bit wiser to the risks posed by dad’s egos and lack of self-awareness, because they make the dads do a silly race that slows them down and stops the injuries!