TAMAR Trotters runner Matt Harries has gone from doing the Couch to 5km to a 20-mile Grizzly race in the staggering space of just over a year!

Matt joined the Saltash-based Trotters’ Couch to 5km group in January 2019 as a complete novice in running, and at the time his only exercise consisted of a twice- weekly cycle to work.

He was new to Saltash at the time and he was concerned about his weight and level of fitness, and therefore enrolled in the Tamar Trotters Couch to 5km programme.

Matt showed such great enthusiasm from the outset, and he made rapid progress throughout the 10-week course, and he certainly ‘got the running bug’.

He really appreciated the support he received as he completed not only the 5km course but also the follow-on 10km course.

Matt then joined the Trotters as a full member and progressed over just a few months from the 11-minute-per-mile group right through to the eight-minute-mile group on Tuesdays and Thursday evenings, and he has recently ventured into the even faster groups on training nights.

Matt’s first race was the Ivybridge 10km, which took place in May 2019, where he ran an incredible 44 minutes 49 seconds race,

He loved the buzz of running in ‘Trotters’ colours and the fantastic support of club members and their families cheering him on both en-route and at the finish.

Other significant races completed so far include the Bodmin Half Marathon in February, where he was the first Trotter to finish.

The ‘Bodmin Half’ is one of the most difficult 13.1-mile races in the South West, hence it takes a brave man to make that his debut half marathon event.

Matt’s latest event was to take on the notorious Grizzly at Seaton (one of the last races to take place before lockdown).

He was so enthusiastic about this challenge that he put in many hours of running to ensure that he was more than race-fit.

The Grizzly is a gruelling 20-mile multi-terrain course which includes two energy-sapping bogs, very steep cliff paths, has an overall ascent of 3,000 feet, and traverses almost every type of terrain possible, but the views are stunning.

Matt has been the ‘Runner of the Month’ for the Trotters, but more importantly, he won the ‘Most Improved Male Runner Award’ for 2019/20, of which he is extremely proud.

Improvement

His ambition is to run a full marathon and he would particularly like to obtain a place in the London Marathon as soon as possible.

His other ambition is to become a running group leader for training nights and become a coach for the Couch to 5km participants.

Apart from a great improvement in physical fitness since January 2019, he has lost two and a half stone in weight, he has found his job has become easier due to improved physical fitness, he has grown in confidence and he has found that he has a much more positive attitude to life.

He would like to thank the Couch to 5km team of coaches, and the whole of the Tamar Trotters Running Club, for all the advice that he has received, the friendship within the club and hence his enjoyment of running.

‘I can definitely recommend this club to anyone who wants to start running, maintain fitness or improve their own running,’ he said.

‘It must be the best running club in the country.’