Even though I've been running for nearly five years now, have run 17 ultras and 37 marathons, and this year have won two ultras and had six other top three finishes, I still feel like an imposter when I'm running with my running club, Southport & Waterloo Athletics club. In my head I'm still the fat out of breath numpty, sweating and shuffling around the block that first time - those guys are proper athletes. Most of the runners I run with have years of experience, and PBs I can only dream of.
So it was surreal, and incredible that I won the Progress trophy at our annual awards last week. The set up I got during the ceremony was amazing - I was so simultaneously proud and embarrassed I though my head would explode, but that might have been the beer. Here's what they said:
"The senior Progress Trophy is awarded to a senior road runner for improvement in performance. Runners in the frame this year and well deserving of a mention included David Marsh, Justin Baddeley, Paul Warrington, Keith Lunt, Paula Davies and Rachel Jacks. But this year’s winner brought his marathon PB down from 3.26 to 3.13 at Blackpool and then to 3:09 at Wolverhampton; ran successive half marathon PBs at Liverpool, Southport and Fleetwood, down to 1:28; ran a 5K PB of 19:36 in June; ran back to back marathons at Bolton Hill; won 2 Ultra races, the Oldham Way Ultra in March, 40 miles in 7:49, and the Long Good Friday Ultra, running 43 1-mile laps in the allotted 6 hours. Having run 6 marathons in November alone, he deserved enormous respect. The Progress Trophy winner for 2014 went to an ultra runner for the first time …. Ben Wittenberg"
All the other winners are here: Southport & Waterloo AC
God knows what I'm going to have to do next year if I want to retain it (only one person's done that before), but I reckon I'll think of something...
So it was surreal, and incredible that I won the Progress trophy at our annual awards last week. The set up I got during the ceremony was amazing - I was so simultaneously proud and embarrassed I though my head would explode, but that might have been the beer. Here's what they said:
"The senior Progress Trophy is awarded to a senior road runner for improvement in performance. Runners in the frame this year and well deserving of a mention included David Marsh, Justin Baddeley, Paul Warrington, Keith Lunt, Paula Davies and Rachel Jacks. But this year’s winner brought his marathon PB down from 3.26 to 3.13 at Blackpool and then to 3:09 at Wolverhampton; ran successive half marathon PBs at Liverpool, Southport and Fleetwood, down to 1:28; ran a 5K PB of 19:36 in June; ran back to back marathons at Bolton Hill; won 2 Ultra races, the Oldham Way Ultra in March, 40 miles in 7:49, and the Long Good Friday Ultra, running 43 1-mile laps in the allotted 6 hours. Having run 6 marathons in November alone, he deserved enormous respect. The Progress Trophy winner for 2014 went to an ultra runner for the first time …. Ben Wittenberg"
All the other winners are here: Southport & Waterloo AC
God knows what I'm going to have to do next year if I want to retain it (only one person's done that before), but I reckon I'll think of something...
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