As I announced at the start of the year, I’ll be publishing a reoccurring article for my chosen ‘athlete of the month’. For September, the athlete of the month is... Craig Rutherfoord
Craig a.k.a ‘The Mountain Goat’ has seriously impressed this month and it seems his consistency for attending track sessions, week in and week out has certainly been paying off. He has attended every track session since the start, except for one where he had a wedding to attend (more than good enough reason to break his 100% track attendance record).
Let me tell you the story of how he got the nickname, ‘The Mountain Goat’. A few weeks back we were on training camp and doing our longer run on the South Downs Trails. There was a section of the run where all we were doing was climbing up hills. These hills were tough, and we were all looking forward to enjoying the downhills to come on the way home. When downhills eventually did come, they were they steep, actually too steep for a road runner like myself to enjoy, but not Craig. He licked his lips are the sight of this monster downhill and off he went! Like a spartan sprinting into war! We all watched with ore and couldn’t believe the speed at which he flew down. Even the mountain goats couldn’t help it but stop and stare! Just a few seconds later and he was at the bottom, as for the rest of us, we were only halfway down.
Really impressive and a sign that maybe he should be targeting some trail races at a later stage, which he intends on doing. I believe this is where his true strength lies, but there’s only one way to find out.
Craig has had many niggles along the journey and fortunately through trial and error is seems as though we have worked out his sweet spot for the perfect combination of mileage and speed work. He enjoys the occasional longer cycle too and this non-impact form of exercise always seems to work in his favour. If it’s not broken, don’t fit it!
He’s in some top form having crushed his 5km, 10km and Half marathon PBs within the last few weeks. This past weekend he managed to dip just under 1:26 for his half marathon and the weekend before he managed an 18:23 for a 5km. This came as no surprise to me and we both know with continued consistency and smart training there will definitely be more PB’s to come. Far from peaking and I’m certainly looking forward to his journey ahead.
Onwards
Upwards
Progress!
Who will be the athlete of the month for November??
