Holly Smith Wins Birchfield Harriers Athlete of the Month Award for January

Teenage Race Walker Holly Smith has been chosen as Birchfield Harriers Athlete of the Month for January in recognition of her single minded determination that has contributed towards a significant improvement in her performances despite several personal setbacks over the past year.

In doing so at the age of sixteen and a quarter, the 16-year old Swanshurst schoolgirl succeeds 18-year old James Trollope as the club’s youngest winner of this award.

On 11 November the youngster who is a member of the National and West Midlands Regional Endurance squads clocked 27 minutes and 39 seconds to improve her personal best performance for five kilometres by 27 seconds to win her Under 17 age group in the Midland League fixture staged in Perry Park. Four weeks later on 9 December in the Christmas Handicap event, Holly ended the year with a further improvement of virtually a full minute with a new career best time of 26:41.

Holly’s Coach Mrs. Mo Graham who was elected a club Life Vice President last November appreciates the background to her protégé’s progress. She commented,

“I am thrilled to bits for Holly who has persevered with her training despite being laid low by a series of viral infections in late 2005 and again for three months last spring. Holly overcame bereavement last February to win the Margaret Emsley Memorial Trophy for walkers who have not previously won a Midland title at the Area Road Race Walking Championships. She dedicated her winner’s medal to her grandmother who had lost her battle with cancer earlier the same week. Despite missing quite a bit of the essential foundation training sessions through illness Holly was still able to win a bronze medal at the English Schools Championships at Derby in September.”

Holly from Kings Heath joined the harriers as a ten year old after attending a week’s   Introduction to Athletics programme at the Alexander Stadium in August 2001. She recalled, “Like many girls, I danced from an early age. I always enjoyed watching athletics on television and attended a Star Track programme a few weeks before my eleventh birthday. One of the people that I met then was Mo and she asked me to try race walking which I found that I enjoyed. Mo is very enthusiastic and does a great job in keeping our spirits high when her athletics experience set backs or disappointments. She is always there for us which we appreciate. It is a very great honour to receive this award and now that the doctor has given me the all clear after the viral infections, I want to continue with my training for the ten kilometres distance and to progress as far as I can in race walking.”

Tom McCook