Amanda Baxter has been running with us in Run plus since September 2011. Amanda is encouraging and inspiring and she always manages to look great too! Join Amanda in our Run Plus groups.
Vanessa Brown joined SE Fitness back in 2012 and we’ve finally managed to persuade her to become a leader. Vanessa has a great ‘runners brain’. She can teach you all you need to know about determination and how it pays off. Vanessa ran her first marathon in Edinburgh in 2010 for Cancer Research. She’s finished 6 marathons altogether: Edinburgh, Milton Keynes, Bournemouth x 2 and London. Her most recent 4 marathons have all been on behalf of Macmillan she says “They are an awesome charity to run for. The give the best aftercare.” Qualified Leader in Run Fitness UKA May 19.
Louise Clark Martin came back to SE Fitness after her third child and has not looked back (literally)! She says that she gave up sport at school because she didn’t like it but she enjoyed the friendly atmosphere at SE Fitness which encouraged her to keep on running and even unearthed a hidden competitive streak! As a result Louise was the well-deserving winner of our 2018 Grand Prix competition. It’s great to have Louise on the team because she really understands runners who want to improve and his happy to support them in their goal. She is plays an important role in the social side of SE Fitness being instrumental in organising the first overseas tour! Qualified Leader in Run Fitness UKA May 19.
Mark Crawford joined SE Fitness in April 2009. He is a volunteer leader on Saturday mornings. Mark is super encouraging as a Leader and full of fabulous running tips. Mark will get you around even if you don’t feel like it!
Mark qualified with the UKA Leadership in Running Fitness qualification in June 2014. Mark completed his first marathon in October 2017 in Birmingham.
Rob Downing joined SE Fitness as a beginner runner in April 2012. He quickly moved through to Run plus and now leads with Run Fitness on a Thursday evening.
Rob qualified with the UKA Leadership in Running Fitness qualification in June 2014.
Helen Hodgkiss joined SE Fitness as a beginner runner in September 2013. By the Summer of 2014 she volunteered to be a pacer in our Great Midlands Fun Run training. After this experience Helen decided she would like to become a leader. She runs regularly with us and has recently completed the Birmingham Half marathon. Helen followed our initial leader training programme and soon started leading her own Run Fitness group in October of this year. Helen passed the Leadership in Run Fitness course in November 2015.
Helena Payne joined SE Fitness in 2016 to support her daughter who needed to do physical exercise for her Duke of Edinburgh award. Although new to running it quickly became not just a way to get fit but a much loved hobby. She says she has made some much cherished friendships though the club and loves the social side as well as the keeping healthy and fit benefits and that running while chatting to friends has always been so much more appealing than running alone. She became a leader in 2021 and outside of SE Fitness likes to partake in running challenges of varying distances, but always wear her SE shirts with pride
Neil Insley joined SE Fitness in September 2012. He was a volunteer at the London Olympics 2012 where he met an SE Fitness member who suggested he joined us. Neil takes the faster Run Plus runners on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays at 9.30. If you want a brisk, cross-country run in the week then Neil’s your man!
Neil qualified with the UKA Leadership in Running Fitness qualification in June 2014.
Kuli Kang is a very experienced runner who is always pushing herself to achieve her next goal. In 2018 Kuli ran London Marathon on behalf of charity Mind. It was the hottest marathon ever but her determination carried her through. Kuli was instrumental in setting up SE Fitness first overseas tour to Palma for the half marathon. Her dedication and enthusiasm and sense of fun is a great addition to the SE Fitness team of leaders.
Tammy Kirby joined SE Fitness in January 2009. Tammy qualified as a Run Leader with the UKA Leadership in Running Fitness in January 2011. Tammy has a really positive, encouraging attitude and makes every run fun!
Helyn McConnell John and I joined SE Fitness after the birth of our son when we had a real incentive to get fitter! I joined Buggy Walk and John joined Run Plus. I soon moved onto the running groups as many of our Buggy Walkers do and before long became a regular leader for Sally.
John and I took over in April 2015 to try and continue the good work that Sally had set up. We want people to enjoy themselves when they come to a group at SE Fitness but I also want them to feel they are exceeding their own fitness expectations in a safe and healthy environment. I am a qualified UK Athletics Coach in Running Fitness.
John McConnell joined SE Fitness in October 2007 as a run plus runner. Since July 2010 John has been leading with our Run plus evening groups twice a week. He is a much better runner than he looks!!
Beth Morgan is one of those sickening runners who make it all look effortlessly easy! She assures me that is not the case! Beth qualified in UKA Leader in Run Fitness in November 2017. Beth tends to lead Run plus or Run Fitness groups. Her fastest time for Great Midlands Fun Run is 64 minutes so she can put you through your paces if that’s what you want!
Mandy Morgan qualified as a run leader with the UKA Leadership in Running Fitness qualification in March 2011. Mandy joined SE Fitness as a beginner runner in May 2007. She now runs with Run plus but is seen leading Run Fitness. Runners say to me “I don’t know how she does it, she just chatted to me all the way around, I didn’t notice how far we had gone and we had finished!”
Jess Morgan started with us in the beginners running in the Summer of 2007. By the end of the year she progressed to Run plus. Daughter of Mandy, Jess is a qualified leader (since November 2011) and regularly leads a number of our groups.
Adam Page says SE Fitness has changed his life in the two years since he became a member! One of our faster runners Adam has taken pleasure in achieving his own best times over 10K and half marathon. Adam qualified with Leadership in Run Fitness in November 2015 and now helps our fastest runners get the most out of their training on a Saturday morning.
Debra Roberts has been with SE Fitness since May 2010. She has been a valued member of our Monday evening Walk plus group. Debra is now leading this group on a regular basis.
Hazel Robinson After a couple of years running sporadically on her own, Hazel joined SE Fitness in 2015 with the aim of enjoying running more in a more structured and social environment. She has run in all the groups and also enjoys the challenge of Speedwork sessions on the track. She hopes that as a leader, she will be able to help those who are new to running to fulfil their potential.’
Becky Shepherd started running with SE Fitness in January 2008 as one of our beginner runners.However, she quickly progressed to not only joining our Run plus groups but also becoming a leader. In July 2009, Becky completed the UKA Leadership in Running Fitness award and now is an established leader in both our running and walking groups.
Linda Sheriff qualified as a Walk Leader in June 2012. Linda joined SE Fitness at the beginning of January 2012. She is now one of our adhoc walk & run leaders. Qualified Leader in Run Fitness UKA April 19.
Jan Simmons joined SE Fitness in January 2007 as a beginner walker. She quickly moved into Walk plus and then decided to try our beginner running groups. As her fitness improved Jan joined us as a walk and run leader in February 2008. Since this time Jan has completed both the Jog Leaders course in 2008 and the Walk Leaders Award in November 2008. As a run leader Jan’s passion is our absolute beginners. Jan is currently leading our Walk Fitness group.
Andre Smith – It’s great to have someone as enthusiastic as Andre on our leading team. Andre is a keen runner who has finished numerous 10K races, half marathons and a couple of marathons.
Andre leads our run plus groups regularly on Wednesday evenings and Saturday mornings. Qualified Leader in Run Fitness UKA May 19
Rosie Thompson joined Speedwork in June 2014 to get faster and in one year took 12 minutes of her half marathon PB. She started leading ad hoc in 2016 and now regularly leads Run Plus on Monday mornings. Rosie has experience of all distances from 5K to full marathon and loves encouraging and supporting others to achieve their goals. After a tough run one of our runners actually described Rosie as an ‘Angel’! “I’d never have got around without her,” she said.
Sarah Vaughan joined SE Fitness in October 2004. New to running she took to it like a duck to water and was soon targeting the London marathon. She completed this in a creditable 4 hrs 20 mins in April 2005. Sarah completed the UKA Fitness in Running & Walking Award in Dec 2006. She is a volunteer with our Wednesday evening running group.
Ruth Wallis joined SE Fitness as a walker in September 2010. She became a walk leader in June 2013 and currently assists in Walk plus.
Dian Gordon joined SE Fitness in 2014 as a runner. As well as running she also helps as a volunteer walk leader with the Beginners Walk. She says she has met some lovely people at SE and it’s always very enjoyable chatting to other runners and walkers in the club. She also loves the social side of SE!
Helena Payne joined SE Fitness in 2016 to support her daughter who needed to do physical exercise for her Duke of Edinburgh award. She says she has made some much cherished friendships though the club and I love the social side as well as the keeping healthy and fit benefits. Running while chatting to friends has always been so much more appealing to Helena than running alone. Her favourite routes are trail runs in the park, especially on a gloriously sunny day. In 2021 she became a leader and has very much enjoyed doing this role. Outside of SE Fitness she likes to partake in running challenges of varying distances, but always wear my SE shirts with pride.