Ryan Elston

Sports Award

Age:

21

Biography

Hi, my name is Ryan Elston and I am a 20 year old 800m athlete from Rothley, Leicestershire. As a Marketing and Management undergraduate student at Loughborough University, I am blessed to complete my regular training in exceptional facilities and under the guide of top-class coaches to help my development.

In the summer of 2022, I was delighted to run a new PB of 1:51.45, and more recently at the BUCS Indoor Championships in February, an indoor PB of 1:52.72. This leaves me with the clear aim of achieving a sub 1:50 clocking this summer, and with my winter training going very well, I see no reason why I shouldn't achieve this.

A lot of my time is spent running, as I train six times a week, which includes fast track sessions, tempo runs, recovery runs and the classic Sunday long run, usually up Outwoods and Beacon. One of my most profound achievements is finishing 4th at the National U17 Championships in Bedford in September 2019, but that was a while ago, so I'm hoping to exceed that performance at the England Athletics U23 championships this season.

As well as running, my time is spent studying, as I have many pieces of coursework and exams to prepare for. Thankfully, I achieved highly in my recent January exams which puts me on a good track to be successful at university in my studies as well as athletics. I feel grateful and very appreciative of receiving this award from the team at JHMT and was delighted to hear a positive response again, as I have received support from the JHMT Inspire team in the past. Training expenses and life as a student, balancing finances has proven to be difficult, so this grant will help ease the stress and allow me to feel freer to book physio and massage appointments, as well as new shoes and equipment.

I am certainly excited to see what lies ahead. I've always had a connection with JHMT, as I studied at Rawlins from year 7 through to year 13, and live in Rothley. I have also twice won the annual charity Joe's Jog mile fun run, which is in memory of Joe. This is a great event which partners with the Rothley 10k to bring about an exceptional evening of community spirit within the village. I strongly recommend anyone to take part in this year's event.