Jo Day
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1. Please introduce yourself.
I joined Thrift Green Trotters, as BRC was known then, in May 2005. I don’t think it was long after that I became known as ‘the chatty one’!
I was on the committee for a number of years and along with Melvyn Cooper, set up and assisted him coaching the TGT Youth Group. Melvyn, Steve Smith and myself also set up the Becket Keys Satellite Club which Melvyn and others have continued to coach. I am a LIRF and Athletics Coach at Havering AC. I have run the Benfleet 15 twice, the Full Grizzly once, and four London Marathons, raising money for personal charities which has meant so much.
2. Do you have any events coming up, if any?
I have been running a few ‘virtual’ races during lockdown which has kept me motivated and gets me out running during this freezing weather.
Plus, I receive fab medals and who doesn’t love a medal to post on FB!
My next virtual run is called the Winter Half Marathon and I’m going to run it on my birthday at the end of this month.
I also hope to do the Chelmsford Half in October.
3. What does running mean to you?
I have been a competitive runner since school and represented London in the English Schools XC Champs. Wherever I’ve been in the world, even top deck on a cruise ship, I have put on my trainers and run. Running makes me feel healthier, freer and gives me a feeling of accomplishment when it’s over!
It also means meeting up with BRC club mates for fantastic social events and weekends away as well as races in the heat, cold, mud and hills of XC leagues. The feeling of achievement and support from our ladies XC teams whilst maintaining our promotion with the best in Essex, makes the pain all worthwhile and not forgetting the CAKE afterwards!
4. What’s your best running memory?
Organising our fantastic 24hr Spitfire Scramble ladies’ team in July 2019 has definitely been a highlight. From pitching up our tents, laughing, hardly sleeping, except Marijke! We ran with torches during the night, stressed whether Mary and Lorna will get back from the Brentwood Festival in time to run their next leg! And were ecstatic to be Runners up in the our category, all added up to two days I’ll never forget – roll on 2022.
I must mention two of my funniest race memories: collecting our Ladies Team Winners medals at the 2017 Billericay 10K and the Royal Parks Half Marathon bra-gate affair!!
5 what’s your proudest running moment?
Completing my first London Marathon in 2006 – turning the corner from Buckingham Palace and seeing the finish brought tears streaming down my cheeks, thinking how proud my ‘sporty’ dad would have been if he was there. A similar sense of achievement is when I ran down that last road at Seaton in pelting rain to finish the Grizzly, sadly the firefighters had gone!
Also crawling up that One Last Hill of the Benfleet 15 – the pain in my calves lasted for days! Not forgetting coming first in the 55+ age group in the 2018 Thames Chase 10K.
6. What’s the best bit of running advice you have received?
Advice I would give is to mix up your training with speedwork, hills as well as long and short runs. If you are finding it hard to get motivated during these strange times, run with somebody living close by and in a group when we can again. Contact a group leader or committee member if you are struggling, we are all here to support each other’s mental health.
Advice given to me by my South Weald Coach, Keith Thornton is: stop talking when you’re training and you’ll run faster!