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 Fitness 2 group, Friday mornings at 9.30.
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
Joyce Collier is a qualified Leader in Run Fitness and a very experienced runner. Joyce has completed a number of half marathons and other races over the years but her main goal now is to stay fit and healthy so that she can keep running and enable others to enjoy it too.
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.
Julie Dodd has been running with SE Fitness since 1997. She joined us as a leader in August 2009. Julie completed the UK Leadership in Running Fitness award (July 2009) and now leads in our running groups.
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.
Joy Gosling qualified in April 2012 and is regularly leading our Run Fitness groups and beginners. Joy will gently encourage you to get better and push yourself further than you thought you could.
Jenny Hill first joined SE Fitness as a runner in January 2000. She completed the Birmingham City Councils Walk 2000 Walk Leaders Award in 2002.Jenny joined us as a Walk Leader in April 2002, one of our first ever leaders allowing us to develop the walking groups. She continues to lead our daytime Walking groups on a regular basis. However, you may well catch her running in the park as she maintains her fitness. Jenny is our Walk Co ordinator.
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.
Dave Howles joined SE Fitness a year after his wife, Sue, in January 2009. Dave attends Speedwork and the monday Run plus group regularly. In March 2011 Dave qualified as a leader with the UKA Leadership in Running Fitness course and is now a regular volunteer leader at the Monday 7.30pm Run plus group.
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!
Pam Malpas Pam has a very busy life with a partner who works shifts, her own work and three kids! SE Fitness is lucky that Pam is still willing to lead when she can because she is one of the kindest, most supportive people we know. Pam ran her first marathon at London in 2018. She approached that with the same calm good sense and dedication that we admire so much and finished in a great time too.
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!!
Claire Payne has been running regularly with SE Fitness since 2008. She happily took early retirement in 2015 which gave her more time to take up her new role as an SE Fitness Leader! Claire trained in-house with Sally Ellis and passed the Leadership in Run Fitness Course in November 2015. Claire’s regular group is on a Monday morning although she also often steps in to help with holiday cover.
Gill McNeil qualified as a Walk Leader in June 2012 and is a regular volunteer in both our Walk Fitness and Beginners walk groups.
Kirsty Millington says she never dreamed she could be a runner wshen she joined SE Fitness in Spring 2017. She followed our beginners programme and progressed through the groups until a year later she took part in Cathedral to Castle a 10 mile mixed terrain race. Kirsty leads our 5 to 10K programme and knows only too well that it can feel scary and daunting so she’s the perfect leader to encourage you on your way.
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.
Malcolm Payne qualified as a run leader in February 2012 and helps out with the faster groups when we need him.
Jenny Reeve joined SEF mid 2006 and became a run leader in 2009. A veteran of many 10k, Half Marathon and Marathon events, she is now a Parkrun devotee. Jenny can be found on the start line at Kingsbury Water Park most weekends. At SE she can be found every Wednesday morning leading out the fabulous Run Fit 2 taking them around our glorious Sutton Park.
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
Pat Stack joined SE Fitness in March 2010. Despite being a confirmed marathon runner Pat also finds time to lead for us in most of our running groups. She qualified with the UKA Leadership in Running Fitness qualification in June 2014.
Michelle Stammers is probably the leader who has moved the furthest in the shortest time possible. Michelle joined us in February 2011 as a walker. She moved into our beginner running groups and very quickly into Run Fitness. Today she can be found in Run plus and in September 2011 achieved the Leadership in Running Fitness qualification. Michelle has been a regular leader with all of our running groups since September 2011.
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.
Sue Wilson
SE Fitness is lucky to count Sue Wilson as one of our Walk Leaders.
As you can see from her fabulous smile Sue is one of the friendliest, most fun people I know. Sue helps Becky with our Walk plus group on Thursdays.
If you need an injection of joy then join Sue, Becky and our Walk Plus group on Thursdays at 9.30am!
Peter Woolgar joined SE Fitness in September 2012 as a Run Plus runner. We are pleased to have Peter join our volunteer leaders as he has broad experience both as a runner and as a fitness coach.