Meet Anne Davies... Anne has been running with the Potters Trotters for many years and inspires and amazes us with her energy and enthusiasm for racing. She has completed four marathons in the last two years and hasn't finished yet. In 2013, Anne was voted our Trotter of the Year. This is what the award meant to Anne: On the 8th May 2013 was the Potters Trotters Awards Evening held at Sangam Restaurant in Stoke. I had such a lovely night in more ways than I could have ever dreamt of. I arrived early with plenty of time to catch up for a chat with fellow runners. Then the AGM meeting started followed by the presentation of the trophies. There I was clapping fellow runners who got presented with their awards and certificates. Then it was my turn to receive an award for ‘Racer of the Year’ after listening to a lovely speech from Sue Rushton. Whoop whoop!!! There I was wondering where I might put the trophy. Then the next minute I was standing with all the other nominees for Potters Trotter of the Year, having my photo taken and not realising what was to come. My name was read out saying I had won the award. I am ever so overwhelmed, shocked to say the least on being voted Potters Trotter of the year. I do believe that was the first time I was speechless!!! I still can’t believe I’ve won the trophy and thank you all so very much for voting for me. Congratulations too to all the other award winners. Thank you Potters Trotters. Whoop whoop!!! These 5 ladies took part in our Beginners Course in Spring 2013. Read about camaraderie, encouragement, friendship, support, self-belief and inspirational success!
Juliet - A journey begins with the first step. Sue’s whistle blows on a cold February night and with our first step off we go into the unknown where a minute is a lifetime and a flat road is a challenge! 10 weeks of preparation later and suddenly The Finale – our first “parkrun”. The camaraderie, support and friendship, along with a lot of motivation, keep us all going and we enter our first road race, The Strawberry 5. Think sunshine, strawberries, cream teas – think again – rain, rain and more rain! Still, never mind the weather, we’re there for the race and we all finish with a smile (although somewhat drenched), helped along by the wonderful finish line support and, of course, the thought of tea and cake! Several runs later we are forward planning for the rest of this year and into next, including yet another 10K, “multiple” half marathons (yes really!), and a 15K – there is no end to the goals we are setting ourselves. Ladies, just look at how much we’ve achieved in the 9 months of our journey. A huge thank you, Potters Trotters, you’ve inspired us, we couldn’t have done it without you! Ruth - Until this year, the only running I'd ever done was training for then running the Milton 10k with my sports mad family at the age of 10. I finished last, having cried for the last 4k with mum running alongside begging me to get in the minibus which was driving about 6ft behind, holding up the traffic as far back as Leek. At the finish my dad (having finished miles before us) had managed to get medals for us before they were packed away. After that I spent the rest of my childhood avoiding sports at school and holding the family coats at weekend races. I never thought I could be a runner. Now I run 3 times a week and 'feel' like a runner. I can run 10 miles and feel fantastic afterwards. It's thanks to Sue Rushton for encouraging and supporting us beginners to start with, then the supportive feel of the club, the community spirit of parkrun and mostly the friendships which have developed in our little group that keep us all going. Michelle - I’ve never been a runner before in my life and didn't find it easy at all, but remembered a quote at the presentation evening that Ken (Sue's husband) said that “running is about being consistent and determined”. Those words are in my head and have pushed me to run. Running with our group and the camaraderie we have by encouraging each other makes it so much fun and achieving Stoke 10k is something I never thought I'd ever achieve. Now I know I can work towards a half marathon with the support of our group. I look forward to running every week and setting new targets and really enjoy my new found friendships. Indi - I have run for years but never managed more than a mile due to painful knees until I joined Potters Trotters. The course is perfect and really works and I am now running 6 miles without stopping. I really would like to thank Sue who trained us in our 10 week course and really helped me. Her expertise is amazing. She knew it was incorrect trainers causing the problem, now I run with absolutely no problems with my knees. I had 6 weeks off but came back to lots of support and encouragement, and soon built up distance and speed again. I run with such lovely women and still look forward to joining them each Tuesday and Thursday. Thank you to all the organisers of Potters Trotters, it is run brilliantly. It keeps me fit, I feel safe and it gets me out... even in the rain, (which is something I would never have done before). The target now is Potters ‘Arf… Lisa - I was asked by a friend to join the beginners group back in February and thought I’d take the plunge. Running for 5 minutes was a challenge, praying Sue would blow her whistle so we could walk. Now we're running 7 or more miles, running for over an hour without stopping - it's still hard to believe now how far I can run. Entering races and crossing the line at the end never felt such a buzz. Joining Potters Trotters is one of the best things I've done, not only for the running and keeping fit, but also for enabling me to meet a lot of lovely ladies who have been so friendly and supportive. |
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