The Athlete of the month, for the month May is.... Anya Culling
Anya decided to enter and run her first ever ultra-marathon two weeks ago; The Jurassic Coast Ultra Run. With her first ever ultra, came her first race WIN too! Yes she did indeed come 1st lady and a whopping 3rd overall! Simply EPIC considering the field had over 500 runners in it! Hopefully the first win of many to come for this pocket rocket!
She finished this 40 miler in an impressive time of sub 6 hours 30 mins. The race had over 1,500 meters of elevation gain, so that is one big accomplishment! It wasn’t all smooth sailing throughout the race for Anya, at one stage she actually fell off the side of a cliff, cutting her hand open and having to be pulled up. Unfortunately for 2nd and 3rd place, she came back all guns blazing after this. She finished 8 minutes ahead of runner up.
Apart form this Jurrasic feat, she has also recently excelled in the shorter distances. Evident by the fact that she broke 20 minutes for 5kms for the first time! This was during a training run too! Can’t wait to see what she does when she runs an official 5km with competition around.
This recent improvement is no surprise to me as she’s been at almost every Track Tuesday since group runs were able to commence again. Including a very speedy one from her last night, impressive recovery time! It’s the session in the week that makes her a faster runner and it’s been a privilege joining her for these sessions and watching her go from strength to strength! No matter how big and festive the weekend, she is always there! And no matter how tough the session, she is always smiling too!
Clearly a strong and talented runner but most of all what she has shown in her recent ultra win was the mental toughness she has. At certain stages in an ultra marathon, it’s all in the mind! Clearly Anya has got what it takes and who knows, this could be the start of many wins to come??!!
Onwards
Upwards
Progress!
Who will be the athlete of the month for June??
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