Athletics & XC
Club President: Rebecca Howarth
Email: rebecca.howarth@dur.ac.uk
Website: www.duaxc.co.uk
About:
Durham University Athletics and Cross Country Club is an amateur club organised by students at the university. It is one of the fastest growing clubs in Durham with a strong reputation, being recognised as one of the top 12 university clubs in the UK. The club is open to all standards of athlete being complete novice to seasoned pro.
The club aims to create a friendly and competitive atmosphere where those athletes who really want to push themselves and represent the University in competitions are encouraged to do so. However, whilst delighted to incorporate some of the best athletic talent in the country, not everyone at the club competes. A significant proportion of our members come along to training to keep fit, have some fun and make new friends. Everyone is welcome and sessions are geared to cater for all abilities.
Athletics: Athletics has always enjoyed a strong tradition at Durham University, many athletes in recent years have medalled at the BUCS (British Universities) championships. Some of the athletes go on to compete in even higher competition such as Olympic, World and European triple jump champion Jonathan Edwards.
Athletes train throughout the year, with the main focus in autumn and winter being on strength and conditioning work. In the Epiphany term most of the athletes compete on the indoor circuit including the BUCS Indoor Championships. The main focus however is the BUCS Outdoor competition which is held around the start of May.
The club caters for all distances on the track, all the jumps (including Pole-Vault) and some of the throws. A large proportion of the team are coached by former World Double-Decathlon silver medalist Peter Coates who is ideally suited to coach such a wide range of events.
The club also arranges a warm weather trip around the end of the Easter holidays which is specifically geared to get the athletes in shape for the BUCS championships, however anyone is more than welcome to go.
Cross Country: Cross Country at Durham is extremely well attended. Last year the club managed to take 6 teams to the BUCS Championships in Bath, with the Men's A Team coming 3rd in the University Relays Series, whilst Durham won the BUCS Women's event.
Most of the season is in preparation for BUCS, and the squad runs in various events. The Relays series races are about 3k long, whereas the Edinburgh Braids is a gruellingly hilly 10k. This year it is intended that the club runs in a local fell race and the already infamous Blyth Sands handicapped 10k. Although by the end of the second term most of the season is over, after exams there are a few more road races, such as the Blaydon races, which are a great way to unwind after exams.
The cross country squad is also looking to go on a warm weather training camp but over Christmas instead, in order to prepare for the BUCS events, but as with the athletics squad all are welcome to attend.
Links: The club enjoys very strong links with local club Durham City Harriers & AC. This has led to the appointment of an official club coach in Peter Coates, who is also backed up by two other Durham City coaches. Between them excellent coaching can be provided for all events from 100m to 10,000m and pole-vault to triple jump. The partnership with the Harriers not only leads to huge improvements in coaching standards but also provides greater opportunities for athletes who are not already members of an external club to compete. Any member of DUAXC is entitled to membership of Durham City Harriers thus providing them with opportunities to compete in local track and cross country events which would not otherwise be available to them.
