Suzi Boast and Linzi Snow, who are based at the Endurance Performance Centre at St Mary’s University, were at the University of Warwick this month taking their first steps on the athletics coaching pathway. They were two of 18 athletes from the Aviva-sponsored ‘On Camp with Kelly’ initiative participating in courses delivered by England Athletics. ‘On Camp with Kelly’, which has been supported by Aviva since 2004, is Dame Kelly Holmes’ mentoring and education initiative for talented young middle distance athletes.

Suzi and Linzi completed the Leadership in Running Fitness course which will enable them to deliver fun and safe sessions to multi-ability running groups and give advice and support to the new runner as well as assist those who want to progress.

Suzi said: “Gaining this qualification will give me an awesome chance to put my experience in running to helping others improve their lives.”

Linzi added: “I feel really grateful to have been given the opportunity by ‘On Camp with Kelly’ to complete the Leadership in Running Fitness course as it has provided me with bits of information I wouldn’t otherwise have thought about. I now feel very confident in starting my own running group.”

Dame Kelly, who also took part in the Leadership in Running Fitness Course, said: “‘On Camp with Kelly’ is about the athletes’ personal development as well as assisting them in their competitive athletics careers. Giving the athletes the opportunity to achieve coaching qualifications enables them to pass on their knowledge to other athletes as well as setting them up for a possible career in coaching when their competitive careers are over.”

In March Suzi and Linzi completed the new UKA Coaching Assistant qualification through ‘On Camp with Kelly’ which qualifies them to assist in the delivery of training sessions under the supervision of a UKA accredited coach.

For more information about ‘On Camp with Kelly’ and latest news and updates visit www.oncampwithkelly.co.uk.