A SET of Solihull twins have hit the ground running as they join team England this race season.
David and John Williams took to the streets of Manchester for the marathon last month for the first Masters International representative race of the season.
Having both run the London Marathon previously, they were excited to be selected to represent England masters over that distance back in 2020.
Unfortunately, the event was cancelled due to the Covid-19 pandemic, so the twins were thrilled to be selected together again this year.
David said: “We were really excited to find out we had both been selected for the Manchester event.
“For me personally, it is a huge honour to wear that England vest, and the camaraderie with the organising team and runners is just amazing. But to be in the England team with your twin brother takes it to a whole new level, I couldn’t have been more proud, and it’s an experience I will never forget.”
Masters athletics and running provides great opportunities for athletes over 35 years old to compete against others in the same age group.
The regular England representative opportunities provided by England Athletics to create a supportive and inspirational community.
John said: “It felt like a real sense of achievement. The biggest honour was to line up alongside a British Masters gold medallist, British Masters Marathon silver medallist and European Marathon bronze medallist and proudly my twin brother.”
David started running first and as he began to get faster, he persuaded John to give it a go.
Now they have both discovered a love of running and have progressed through the distances to the marathon.
As part of their training plans for this distance, they enjoy completing their weekend long runs together.
“Having a twin brother to train with is amazing.” John said. “As well as being my best friend, David encourages me and when training becomes exhausting, we drag each other through the long weekly 21-mile training runs. David is the faster of the two of us and is constantly pushing to help me to improve.”
David added: “As the training block progresses, the long run becomes more gruelling, so it’s good that we have each other, firstly to make sure we go out even when the legs are tired or the weather is awful, and to encourage each other in the latter stages of the run when it starts to hurt.”
Despite both claiming to be competitive, they agree that there is no competitiveness between them and they only want the other to do the best they can in every race.
John said: “I can honestly say that I am not competitive in any way with David, others yes but not him. I have never beaten him in a competitive race and have no desire to do so. I only want him to do well.”
