Running group makes use of Olympic venue in training

A Run England Group Leader in Essex has introduced his running group to the new Olympic Mountain Biking Course in Hadleigh as an innovative addition to their hill running, and it has proved a great success.

Group Leader Mike Hayward decided that his Run England Castle Point Group, made up largely of recreational runners, needed a new challenge and so for the last two weeks the group have been carring out hill reps on the Olympic venue which will become one of the focal points of world sport next year.

And the Castle Point Group has had some great successes since training at the inspirational location with group member Claire Dixon completing her first 10k in under an hour when she ran in the Asics London race with fellow group member Mark Stephens, who made his debut in that event last year.

Last week four of the Group ran with Mike's club, Castle Point Joggers, in their monthly 5k time trial. It was the first time two of them had ever undertaken any sort of running race, and they had never run that far before without stopping before. This created a real buzz and a sense of achievement and has given the runners extra confidence.

But it doesn’t stop there, as at least two of the group are now looking towards the half marathon distance as their next challenge.

Mike said: "It's a great facility and no mean feat, but our group really took it in their stride."

The Castle Point Group runs from John Burrows Sports Ground, Rectory Road, Hadleigh, and if you are interested in joining them, just search for Castle Point using the Run England Group Finder map.

Photo: London 2012