This week we’ve tracked Steven T Williams to Kent, where he’s waiting out lockdown. As a prolific globetrotter (he’s visited no fewer than 71 countries! 🌍), “travel restrictions” is a phrase that Steve would happily see banished. Although right now he’s just as excited about coming home - despite being holed up in the Garden of England, he’s missing the Big Smoke, and like many of us he’s itching to get back to normal London life.
That’s not to say Steve hasn’t made the most of the extra time at home. As you’d expect, he’s been keeping fit, supplementing his country runs with a new sport. “Lockdown has introduced me to the joys of cycling 🚴 so I want to do more of that this year, particularly on days out from London.” Plus he’s the proud owner of a fab new lockdown barnet, and we’re impressed to hear that he’s also penning his first book! No need to mention us in the foreword, Steve. Oh go on then, if you insist...
Rewind to more normal times and you might recall that Steve first partied his way into our lives 🕺 choosing a party run as his first Midnight Runners event. Talk about a baptism of fire! “I heard about MR at a Bootcamp in Hyde Park when someone recommended trying one of their 10K runs. However, given the name, I assumed it was actually at midnight so didn't bother looking any further.” Yeah, we can see where the confusion might have arisen... “That was until one evening when I was walking across Millennium Bridge after work drinks and saw a huge group of people stretching, shouting and dancing to music.” 🙌 Steve decided on the spot that he wanted to be a part of it and jumped in head first.
Since then, Steve has not only been a regular at Tuesday bootcamps, but is also part of a smaller group of the Thursday track team. Well who can blame him? In the words of James Holt; “it’s actually quite good”. It was at one of MR’s 5k track nights that Steve went sub-20 mins for the first time - nice!
Amongst other notable running achievements, in 2014 Steve managed to get one of those elusive spots in the London marathon.
“My cousin managed to get a place for me through her work with only 12 weeks’ notice. I put a programme together, training most days. It was tough but mostly enjoyable.”
But no matter how tough the training, there’s one tune that Steve can always rely on to get him out the door and that’s Hall of Fame by The Script. “It was the first song on my running playlist when training for the marathon, so even to this day when I hear it, my body subconsciously gets ready to start jogging.” That extra nudge is always useful, but to us Steve, you’re already a Hall of Famer!
We can't wait for our next party run, bootcamp or, dare we say, track Thursday together. We only hope we're able to recognise you with your new lockdown look. If there appears to be a new member about with a flowing mane and cyclists’ legs, take a closer look as it could be Steve hiding under those curls!
📣 @geo_wats
