I heard about the John Taylor foundation through some other members of the Yorkshire Triathlon Academy. A successful application helped me fund some new specialist running shoes. I used my shoes to compete in the British Triathlon Super Series in 2023. I qualified for the top level national Junior Super Series following a rigorous performance assessment weekend at the University of Nottingham. I went on to compete against the best under 20 triathletes in the country and raced as part of the Yorkshire Triathlon Academy, which involved around 15 hours of training every week.
Throughout the year, I took part in triathlons, duathlons and aquathlons across Wales, England and Scotland. I finished the season 29th in the national Junior Open category, with my best result coming eighth in the Northern Aquathlon, a swim-run event in open water, held at Lochore Meadows in Scotland. I have also represented Yorkshire in the national finals for cross country running several times in recent years. I took the 2024 season out to focus on my studies and I’m now heading to the University of Exeter where I hope to pick up my sports again.
In May of this year I competed in the European Mountain Running Championships, representing Great Britain for the first time as a senior athlete. The John Taylor Foundation helped support me in this as it helped me to be able to cover the cost of flights to Annecy where the event took place.
Representing Great Britain at a senior level has been a dream of mine for a long time and so to be able to actually carry out this goal was incredible. The race was in a beautiful location and was a really technical course. I finished 11th individual and our team won gold which was amazing to be a part of. Overall it was an incredible experience and has provided a boost of motivation for further training so that I can have more opportunities like this in the future.
I am hugely grateful for the John Taylor Foundation for helping me to cover the costs of travel to the event. Mountain running is a beautiful sport and takes place in some amazing locations around the world, however funding the travel to these events can be difficult, especially as a student at university. I’d like to thank the John Taylor foundation for helping me to have this opportunity.
Thank you so much for the generous contribution, that was used to help pay for my flights to France, to compete in the European Off-Road Running Championships, where I represented Great Britain for the first time.
I was very lucky to secure my GB vests at the trials, to race in the U20s Uphill Only and Up and Down races in Annecy, at the end of May 2024. With my main discipline being Fell/Mountain Running, I wanted to achieve results I would be proud of. My results were 11th in the ‘Uphill Only’ and 25th in the ‘Up and Down’, so achievements I was happy with, running as a 15-year-old in the U20s. To top the whole experience off, our U20 men’s team achieved a team bronze medal in the ‘Uphill Only’, helping me to leave Annecy with a sense of pride and satisfaction.
This experience and these results wouldn’t haven’t possible without the granted money, allowing me to pay for the flights to the event, so I would like to say a massive ‘thank you’ once again to the John Taylor Foundation for their help.
Yesterday I competed in Shot Put in the Under 17 category at the English Athletics Indoor championship. I had met the qualifying distance at the end of 2023.
This event was at Sheffield and it is the first time I have competed in a national final. It was an early start, we left home at 6.00 am to ensure we could be at the stadium in time for registration and to collect my number. I was extremely nervous but also excited, not helped by having watching the live stream of the event the day before which made me realise how busy it would be.
I had two warm up throws and then six throws in the actual competition. There was no podium finish this time but I have learnt so much for future competitions and thoroughly enjoyed my day. The atmosphere and venue were amazing, with music, commentators, loads of spectators.
The indoor 2024 season is now just about finished but I am already making plans for the outdoor season and fingers crossed I will qualify for more big events.
I have attached a picture of me outside the stadium with my coach Chris Lees and by separate email will send a video. It was tricky to get any pictures as spectators had to stay in the stands which were quite a distance from where I was throwing.
I received the cheque and bought some cycling shorts so I could use them during my camp during the February half term. I came back from my camp in Fuertaventura on Sunday.
Over the week we completed around 25 hours of training, 8 hours of swimming, 10 and half hours of cycling, 3 hours of running and 2 hours of S&C. The money which I used for the shorts definitely helped me to carry on with the volume of cycling as it was significantly comfier than some of my older pairs. (256km over the 10 hours).
The weather was really great throughout the week, (even if it was slightly windy on some of the rides) which really helped for me to get a consistent block of training in before the race season starts beginning of April. Again, thank you so much for the funding and support towards me, it was hugely helpful, and beneficial.
I’ve attached a few photos and videos of the kit during the cycles and a few extra from the camp too.
I first heard of the John Taylor foundation grant through friends at training sessions and decided to apply. My main discipline is fell or mountain running and the cost of this specific equipment alongside road running and training shoes, especially whilst at uni, makes it an investment I can’t always afford.
I was successful in my application and with the grant, was able to purchase a replacement pair of trail hiking shoes and 500ml racing flasks for my recent sky running world championship race in Italy.
The cost of training shoes and extra equipment easily adds up and the financial help provided was greatly appreciated. I am very lucky to also be supported by Scarpa who, alongside the John Taylor foundation helped make my race this summer a success. I placed 8th in both the Vertical Kilometre and the 23km Sky Race disciplines and am really looking forward to future years of racing at these new formats, and hopefully start competing at the senior levels in mountain running.
The money I saved through the awarded grant was used to fund my flights to the championships and has hugely helped my financial footing when returning to uni this September.
I am extremely grateful to the John Taylor foundation for their support this year, and for the brilliant work they do supporting athletes in all their racing ambitions!
Support from the John Taylor Foundation has been hugely helpful in contributing towards the cost of travel to and from races and training sessions. This has been of massive benefit towards my preparation for the GB trials in early May in my effort to make the team for the world mountain and trail running championships in Innsbruck in early June.
During this training build up I’ve tested my fitness in two events; the Chapelgill Hill Race near Broughton in the Scottish Borders which claims to be the steepest hill race in the UK with gradients reaching a steepness of around 45%, and also the Northern 12 stage road relays which took place in Redcar which was a pan flat road race. Both exceeded expectations and I won at Chapelgill and was only 19 seconds off of the record, and at Redcar I clocked the second fastest time on my leg running at 3:05 min/km pace for 9.5km in blustery conditions despite doing only hill and mountain work in the fells which I took to be a very positive sign.
The support from the John Taylor Foundation has helped ease some of the financial pressures of travel to and from races and I’ve been especially grateful for it as this year as athletes who qualify for the GB team for the world champs will have to contribute towards the cost of travel due to budget restrictions. The mountain and fell running season is almost all year long and so the support from the John Taylor Foundation has played a crucial role in helping to funding this year’s season.
The Junior European Cup was an incredible opportunity and I am so glad that it was my international debut. JEC 2022 was held in Blankenburg, Germany right on the edge of the Harz mountains. The competition consisted of a sprint race, a long/classic race and a relay race. The nerves when we arrived were through the roof, as entering the hotel after a slightly stressful journey we saw all the different teams (from 12 different countries) wearing all their national kit and I think that’s when it really sunk in for me that I was really about to compete for GB!
After doing a practise sprint in the town we were staying at, we had a lot of time to chill so many of us went to explore the stunning town to get a good view of the castle that overlooked town on the hillside.
It was an early start on the Saturday and a short drive to a neighbouring town to go into quarantine for the sprint race. Surprisingly I felt pretty calm, the only thing I was nervous about was the 135m of climb!!! The area was very challenging both physically (due to the amount of climb as we went all the way up to the castle on top of the hill) and technically challenging.
On the Sunday it was an even earlier start to the day to get to the long event. The long was combined with the German Championships, so it was very busy and you could feel the buzz. The finished was inside a castle on the top of a huge hill- with 80m climb to the last control!!! The area we were racing in was amazing with 3 different kinds of terrain to run through so it was challenging. It was very very hilly towards the end of the course and with lots of little rock features so was tricky but very fun.
Finally, the relay on the Monday. I have got say I was most nervous for the relay as this time it’s not just about you, you are running for a team and I was determined not to let them down. The relay area was amazing, a hilly but technical area that was really runnable so it was a fast race. I was on the 1st leg sharing a mass start with around 80 M/W 18s and M/W 20s. The race went really well and it was amazing to run alongside so many other amazing athletes. As the girls GB team (with Alice Kemsley and Emma Crawford) we managed to get 22nd out of 43 other girls teams so we were really really pleased.
Overall, despite being pretty disappointed with my individual results, I was really pleased with my mindset and the way I handled the pressure of the races. Now that I have had a taste for international competition, I am even more determined to improve in the hope to be selected again in the future.
I would like to thank you for sponsoring me, your support makes it possible for me to be able to take these opportunities and grow as an athlete. These kinds of experiences encourage and motivate me to further improve my orienteering, as it is a good platform to prepare me to start my final year of W18.
Just an update on my John Taylor Foundation funding – I bought the Asics running shoes and a pair of triathlon specific cycle shoes. I wore both in the recent British Triathlon performance assessments and placed 1st – super chuffed so wanted to say massive thankyou to everyone on the trust as all the equipment made a huge difference! I have attached some photos as well :)) Again massive thankyou for everything! Eve Whitaker
