Athlete's profile (16)

ATHLETE'S PROFILE (16)

MATTHEW ROBERTS

NAME: Matthew Edwin Roberts 

CLUB: Rhedwyr Eryri 

ANY PREVIOUS CLUBS: n/a 

AGE AND DATE OF BIRTH: 33, 02/05/1980 

HOW LONG HAVE YOU BEEN COMPETING: My first race was Pipe Dream in 2006 though had a stint whilst at school for just over a year. 

ANY OTHER SPORTS PLAYED: Fair weather road cyclist, mostly from March / April through to October-ish. Occasional mountain biker, climber, boulderer and surfer. 

OTHER HOBBIES OR INTERESTS: I used to work as a tour leader for an adventure travel which whetted my appetite for travel. I’m also a big fan of making the most of my lengthy school holidays so since starting teaching I’ve travelled a fair bit. Main areas of interest being former Soviet countries and Eastern / Tropical Africa. So best recent locations would be Uganda, Kyrgyzstan and surprisingly Moldova where it’s apparent there is no tourist industry. Also really enjoy shorter sun soaked running trips – usually to the smaller and quieter Canaries, e.g. La Gomera and El Hierro – generally avoiding the bubonic terror of southern Tenerife! Forthcoming adventures should lead to Oman, DR Congo and Rwanda and the Turkmenistan / Tadjikstan / Uzbekistan combo. 

I’m also a big fan of reading geopolitically linked books on the above regions – in particular the troubles of the South Caucasus and the African colonial and post-colonial era. 

Also a big fan of classic heavy metal and techno music. 

 FAVOURITE RACING DISTANCE: Generally anything from a mile to around 26 miles. Being a fell runner the calendar allows for this incredible diversity! May well venture into something a tad longer in the future but not sure I like the over-hyped image of the ‘Ultra’ world. 

FAVOURITE RACE AND WHY: Hmmmh, very tricky. I’ve read some terrible answers on Gareth’s blog, e.g. some deadly boring 10k or 10mile such as the Hartlepool 10?! One of my most amazing experiences was at the Jungfrau marathon – cracking route and incredible support. Annually, no race quite matches the pre-hysterical mania of Râs yr Wyddfa – again brilliant support and organisation. The Mike Blake midweek series is consistently on my yearly calendar – Moel y Gest being my pick. All Lakeland races I’ve done have been brilliant. 

FAVOURITE TRAINING SESSION: Rob Samuels Monday night session is great but generally too hard @ a whopping 30 minutes of effort so I’d opt for one of my hill sessions, e.g. 3 x Vivian steps or the legendary Moel Cynghorion rep session. 

 PROUDEST MOMENT: Receiving ‘Excellent’ off an ESTYN inspector during our schools recent inspection, he was a Geography specialist! (sorry, if that’s meant to be running linked!) 

WHOM DO YOU MOST ADMIRE (INSIDE ATHLETICS AND OUT) AND WHY: In terms of present runners I’d go for one of top fell runners of all time – Ian Holmes. Incredible longevity and brilliantly modest – an oft absent trait in many modern day ego-maniac runners. Similarly I’d go for a pair of younger runners whom I’m sure will achieve incredibly at some stage – Nick Swinburn and Rob Samuel. Both super hard trainers but again modest as anything. But of course, there would be no racers if it weren’t for the coaches, organisers and race volunteers. So likes of Mike Blake, Arwel Lewis, Ross Powell, Dave Woodhead, Iorwerth Roberts and Alwyn Oliver regards organisation and marshalling and likes of Andy Walling who’s currently coaching a top crowd of youngsters. 

ANY PERSONAL AMBITIONS:  

• Maintaining enthusiasm for teaching Geography
• Finishing highly in British fell champs – not stating how high
• Posting a super quick Wyddfa race time – again not stating time
• Visiting all post - Soviet countries
• Circumnavigating Lake Tanganyika
• Fitting in more late night techno club nights

ANY REGRETS: I’ll answer this one in 7 years.

 

ANY EMBARRASSING EXPERIENCES: Endless, as a result of the never ending evenings of alcohol-induced memory loss. 

WHAT CHANGES (IF ANY) WOULD YOU LIKE TO SEE IN THE SPORT: 

• The lifetime ban of mass-commercial ‘mountain’ based events, organised by haemorrhagic money sucking companies who charge hundreds of pounds and inevitably clash dates with traditional events.
• Banning online self-promotional ego-maniacal blogging / twattering / FB, etc………
• Lifetime ban on all perpetual ‘have a pop at race organiser’ athletes – in a similar vein to Lance Armstrong’s ban.