Michael Hessey - Committee Member

Michael Hessey - Committee Member

Looking back I think that I have always ran - but only for about a maximum of one lap around an athletics track. I then presumed that my legs would fall off or my heart explode. I couldn’t get my head around running two or three, let alone four laps which my 1970s and 1980s heroes - Ovett, Coe, Cram etc - were doing, at world record pace, every week.  

Those people I used to watch on telly early on a Sunday morning every April running 26.2 miles around the streets of London, were, I considered, totally bonkers. 

I am now one of those people.

I now know about running shoes, injuries, training, diet, sore bits, race etiquette, road racing and performance enhancing drugs (or, as we runners prefer to call them: gels or jelly babies). I now know that I can run 26.2 miles without my legs snapping, heart exploding or even hitting any type of wall. I don’t now require two weeks to recover from a 10K race (even though a curry as a post-race treat continues to goes down well).

What I have found if that joining a running club is the best way to develop as a runner, whatever your standard. You will inevitably come across issues with your running, such as injuries, but you will be surrounded by like-minded people with similar issues and then it becomes a problem shared, problem halved.

The Club’s evening runs, races and social events are all about good company and friendliness - but with competition available, if that’s what you’re looking for. Start off with 400 metres. Before you know it, you’ll be entering a Park Run 5K, the Herts 10K, St Albans half-marathon or jetting off with thirty-odd members of the Club to do a foreign marathon!   

(Webmaster: After many years in the role Michael stood down as Club Secretary in Jan 2021 but continues as a committee member)