Runner of the Month – December

We are delighted to share that our runner of the month December is someone who is known to ALL of the club, for his enthusiasm, encouragement and the support he gives to others – Jon Holl. However, setting aside all of Jon’s incredible support for the club through many years, we would like to share and celebrate Jon’s running achievements.

Jon has some fantastic marathon achievements – he ran his first one with just 10 days’ notice, still completing it in just over 5 hours, However, when he put his mind to training for a sub-4 hour marathon, he completely smashed it – in a time of 3:51:20. Jon has run several of the majors.

In addition to his marathon achievements, Jon has attained the London classics medal – London marathon, 100 mile bike ride and 2 mile swim in the Serpentine.

But more often than not, Jon sets aside his own running goals to help others. He has literally helped 100s of people make their start into running via the TRAC C25K program. This year our C25k should welcome its thousandth runner.

Recently, Jon encouraged a club trip to Benidorm for the Half marathon and 10K race. While everyone had their race targets in mind, Jon completed the half marathon race at the side of Ade Neaves, to ensure that he safely made it round after experiencing some difficulties.

Jon – thank you for everything you do and congratulations on YOUR running achievements, on the rare occasions that you put yourself first!

We asked Jon…

Q. What attracted you to join TRAC?

A. I’d been running for some time and encouraged Jo to run with me. At that time I was much faster than her (I had to mention that). Jo got a ballot place in London Marathon and we both signed up. Jo has got much faster!

Q. What’s your best moment?

A. if I’m honest there are many best moments. Chicago was my first sub 4 marathon and it meant a lot to me, but what I really enjoy is helping others achieve a new PB or a milestone. If I’m running and not feeling the love I pick somebody up and ‘encourage’ them to get a good time. I really enjoy helping others achieve.

Q. What would you say to a new person who is considering joining?

A. Where else could you talk about food, toilet habits, injuries, mental health and running tourism? I actually enjoy running on my own, but being part of Trac you talk about everything to everyone. It’s a second family.

Q. What does the club mean to you?

A. That’s easy… we’ve talked about moving to Yorkshire, but decided against it because we have such a good network of friends in Thanet and almost everyone happens to be a member of the club!