Camps of yesterday
Year 1
“83% of athletes set a pb in 2024.”
“It’s given me a thirst for running at a high level”
JorjIa march rising star
Jorjia March is our first featured J2S athlete, as she shares an insight into her experiences of a J2S camp, the importance of varied competition and most importantly – her long-term approach!
Jorjia boasts a scintillating 2:08.56 800m PB, a time that ranks her 8th on the UK all-time U15 rankings and won her first English Schools 800m title this year, progressing from a silver medal in 2023. Although she is quick to discount such impressive accolades. “I don’t like focussing too much on times and rankings. I think, as a junior, the most important thing is to make progress in some way each year”. A brilliant outlook that there are many ways to determine a ‘successful year’ that don’t have to be numerical. The power of community in an individual sport is something that when founding J2S we didn’t realise would be such a successful part of the experience for athletes. Jorjia “met lots of other young athletes at J2S camp and we all trained hard but had fun getting to know each other better and sharing stories. Everyone has ups and downs so having friends who are going through the same process is really helpful. I also think that for me to keep developing it’s good to meet with other coaches and athletes so I can learn new things not just about training but also how the sport works. The J2S was really useful for this. I have been in touch with Dan and Matt since the camp and I feel like I can approach them if I have something I want to ask or run by them.”J2S camps are by no means exclusively a running camp, as we aim to equip athletes with a wider understanding of elite sport, so athletes can walk away with ideas to build into their routine. Jorjia found it “really useful to have a strength and conditioning session, as I’ve started to use some of the exercises leant in my own training. I also liked seeing outcomes from the strength tests we did”. There was also a focus on how to maximise rest and relaxation which was “very interesting and made me think about and make small changes to my own approach and getting enough recovery between sessions”.Not just community in training, but Jorjia cites the importance of varied racing as another reason for her continued success. “Competition is a big motivator; cross country, track, road – I like to run in the Met League, school races and the big competitions. Even if it’s an event or distance which might not be my strongest, I just enjoy putting myself on the line and trying my best. I’m lucky enough to have won some big junior events so I’m now aware of the work that needs to be done to repeat this. So, when it’s freezing cold and chucking it down in the winter, I hope that what I’m doing will pay off when it comes to those events”.We feel very privileged to play a small role in Jorjia’s development in the sport and are immensely impressed by her realist and modest attitude – one fostered by the hard work of her coach John Clarke. Running can offer so many opportunities from travelling, to new friends, to learning more about yourself – hopefully Jorjia’s insight into her career can help you to unlock your potential too! 
Arthur elliott
rising star
Junior2Senior sat down with rising star Arthur Elliott to discuss the importance of consistency, and gain insight into his philosophy as he continues to progress in the sport.
Arthur (under-17 athlete) attended our inaugural J2S camp at Radley in April this year and subsequently went onto run a full set of PBs across 800, 1500 and 3000m. Like many top athletes he sets high expectations and “felt like I had a lot more to give!”. He added “I think what contributed to my improvements is a mixture of slowly increasing training and having a consistent winter behind me”.
A big focus of camp was ensuring athletes left with a consistent mindset, and an understanding of how to ‘play the long game’. Arthur commented that “my biggest takeaway was learning how to go into a race without chasing any specifics. Instead, you should ‘control the controllables’ and plan out what you can do”. Not only this, but zooming out and planning long term is another J2S pillar theme, and the takeaways Arthur found was to “enjoy the process and stay consistent. If you give everything you can be satisfied with your achievements, whatever they end up being”.
The City of Stoke runner was amongst 42 budding young athletes from across the country who attended, and many connections and friendships flourished from that experience. Something that is “so important to build as it gives you a reason to keep at it and enables you to build relationships to keep you in the sport long term”.
So, what could a successful career look like for Arthur? “The dream is to get to the top of British middle distance running…and hopefully the world!”. We certainly wouldn’t disagree with such weighty ambitions, as a well thought out philosophy to “keep running and staying consistent, then the big breakthrough will eventually come” stands him in good stead.
As the real winter training phase commences, Arthur offers some seasoned advice to fellow young athletes to re-frame any negative thoughts. “I would say that it’s just about having a “why”, and a reason for putting in the hard work. Whether that’s a long or a short-term goal, it’s just about having a goal to justify what you’re doing”.
We are so excited to watch Arthur’s career go from strength to strength and can’t wait to support him on that journey. At J2S we feel so privileged to play a small part in an athlete’s journey, and hopefully offer some tips or tricks to ensure a long, healthy, and prosperous career.
Stress.recover.improve.