Marathon ace Griffiths passes on tips to youngsters

WEST Wales Athletics hosted its second Regional Endurance Day in Swansea, with more than 30 athletes and around a dozen coaches in attendance from five clubs.

The aim was to provide youngsters with tips about how they can become better all-round endurance athletes.

The group headed to Singleton Park for a training session which focused on running techniques over an uphill and downhill section.

Athletes split into several groups based on age and ability as they worked over a variety of short and long distances in driving rain and strong winds.

There was also the chance to take part in a question and answer session with Amman Valley marathon ace Josh Griffiths, who represented Great Britain in the World Championships and Wales in the Commonwealth Games.

The Swansea Harrier said: “It was great to be able to come along to the West Wales Endurance Day. I was never good enough to attend as an athlete when younger so it was nice to see how hard the youngsters are working.

“There was a great group in attendance, so it was nice to be able to share some of my experiences with them, and I hope they were able to take something from the Q&A. After some questions, I joined in with a pretty tough circuit session and it was excellent to see everyone working so hard and encouraging each other. The future of West Wales endurance looks bright.”

During the afternoon session at the indoor track, athletes took part in a strength and conditioning circuit to challenge club runners. It also stressed the importance of performing drills correctly.