Inspire Archives – Page 4 of 5

Try something new – coaching and officiating courses available through LUCA

November 15, 2016 Emma Butcher

Interested in getting more involved in athletics? Why not take a course on officiating or coaching to gain some new skills? Officiating LUCA has organised an opportunity to get officiating qualifications for FREE! Only 2 spaces remaining so act fast. How to apply: complete and send the registration form below to j.hood@uel.ac.uk, who will forward this to England Athletics. When: this officiating course takes place on 20/11/16 – so don’t delay in applying. Why is this important: All universities competing within the LCAS outdoor series are asked to provide officiating […]

Laviai Nielsen ‘inspired’ by Jessica Ennis-Hill

October 28, 2016 James Findon

London 2012 was a pivotal moment for GB heptathlete, Jessica Ennis-Hill. The poster girl for the games had a chance to win Gold in front of a home crowd. It was a chance that she seized and the rest, as they say, is history. But Jess’ victory had a profound and lasting effect. Standing behind her on the track, was a young Laviai Nielsen – a kit carrier volunteer. Nielsen, 20, is now the European Junior 400m champion and BUCS 200m champion. My inspiration always ❤️ #JessicaEnnisgoodnight 😢 A photo […]

Calling all girls – ‘This Girl Can’ neon rave run

October 27, 2016 Lucy Patchett

Are you ready to get your running shoes on and be part of something huge?! As part of the nationwide ‘This Girl Can’ Campaign, LUCA are inviting all you lovely ladies to show London what you are capable of by joining us on our Neon Rave Run on the 10th November. Let’s celebrate active women who are doing their thing, no matter how well they do it, how they look or how red their face gets – or in our case, how much neon paint is on it. The last […]

The Mindset of a Runner

October 16, 2016 Rahil Sachak-Patwa

At the elite level, there is a nature versus nurture debate in long distance running. Specifically, the question many people ask is, “why are East African runners so good?” Although many scientists have tried to answer this question, the running community is still unsure on the whole. Geneticists have shown that there are ‘athlete genes’, which predispose some people to be better runners than others, for instance determining how much athletes benefit from training. All thing considered though, we are all genetically very similar. If most people have the ability to […]

Run to Explore

September 30, 2016 Rahil Sachak-Patwa

When people ask me why I run, I can list many reasons; it keeps you fit, I like competing, it’s sociable and the list goes on and on. But perhaps the most appealing aspect of the sport for me is that whilst running I can explore. The word ‘explore’ is defined as travelling through an unfamiliar area to learn about it and that is exactly what running enables you to do. I tried to start running on a number of occasions before I joined my university’s running club, and I […]

New season, New You

September 24, 2016 Louise Pech

As the cross country season is about to start, you might be deciding whether athletics is the sport for you. Or if you already know that you like athletics, perhaps you’re questioning if the event you have been working on fits you. If you are in the first category, don’t hesitate! You can’t go wrong with athletics. Due to the range of events available, I can assure you that one will work for you. Whether you like speed, distance, jumping or throwing, athletics will be the right choice. And if you feel like […]

Fun Run? A Guide To Getting Started.

September 4, 2016 admin

My idea for this article came from my brother, a self-professed non-runner. Having recently tackled his first run in 6 years, his question was quite clear – “how long will it take me to be able to run without pain?”. While this is of course difficult to answer exactly because everyone is different, it seems valuable to look at possible answers so that newbies can get their bearings. First of all, running (or any sport for that matter) is challenging, especially when you first start. Yet running for fun doesn’t need […]

How To Eat Like An Olympian

September 2, 2016 Jay Reynolds

With a bumper year at the Olympics – Team GB’s best haul of medals since the 1908 London games – many of us will be inspired to get out and do more sport in the run up to Tokyo 2020. Whilst the majority will not quite be training at the same level as an Olympian, if you wished to, you would need to eat like one. So here’s how: Snack like a sprinter The world’s fastest man, Jamaica’s Usain Bolt, is obviously primarily famous for his record breaking times in […]

Get your colour on with the Colour Run

August 31, 2016 Emma Butcher

Have you ever felt like a 5km run was a bit…well, boring? Well fear no more: Colour Runs are here to brighten your day! Touted as the ‘happiest 5km on the planet’, Colour Runs involve a 5K running route with a vast spectrum of colourful powder along the way (see below for an example colour explosion). They have taken place all over the world and have been received with great success, so I headed to the Wembley arena earlier this summer to check out the latest London event. With another London Colour […]

The rise of the Midnight Runners

August 29, 2016 James Findon

Running clubs may be on the decline, but running communities are on the rise. No better example of the rapid growth in running communities is there than the Midnight Runners. Within 15 months, the group has gone from 15 runners to over 400. I’m a regular club runner, but one of my colleagues has spoken so highly of the Midnight Runners group that I decided to give it a go and compare the two experiences. So, for the last two months, I’ve been running with the Midnight Runners every Tuesday evening at their 10K Music […]