Archive for the ‘Atlas 10k Team’ Category

Tamworth Atlas 10k team success at Lichfield run

Sunday 10th September was the day that the Atlas 10k team led by Tamworth Osteopath John Williams completed their fitness and obesity programme.

Running the Lichfield 10k race alongside club athletes from all over the midlands, the Atlas team ran every step of the way to claim success and prove that if you exercise on a regular basis, you can achieve what many thought impossible.

What began as an obesity challenge 10 months ago where many of the squad members would get breathless with walking just 100 metres, has resulted in a life changing experience

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Team members included Helen O’Reilly, Samantha Turnbull, Johanna Smith, Karen Whitehouse with fitness coaches John Williams and 76 year old triathlete Tom Dixon.

Best time achieved was by Johanna Smith who clocked 62 minutes for the Lichfield 10k
This was truly remarkable considering 50 year old Johanna was clinically obese, a 60 cigarettes a day smoker and was breathless from just a short walk.

10 months later, after taking part in the Atlas 10k obesity and fitness programme, Johanna has shed over 4 stones, regularly runs 5 miles and she is now a non smoker. Her long term goals are to run a full marathon in the future.

Johanna was awarded the prize for the person losing most weight which was a day for two at the Eden Spa at Hoar Cross Hall in Staffordshire. This was kindly jointly donated by Eden Spa and John Williams of Atlas Pain Relief Centre.

The squad are to continue training and intend to enter the Tamworth 10k run next year.

Tamworth Osteopath John Williams believe’s exercise is good for you, however, special population categories such as obesity require professional guidance. Most people are capable of exercise and non weight bearing activities such as swimming or cycling can burn calories without heavy wear on the joints.

If you have concerns about your ability to exercise safely, you should consult your doctor.and exercise specialist. Specialist advice and a fit to exercise check up can be obtained at Atlas Pain Relief Centre in Lower Gungate, Tamworth by telephoning 01827 59943

7-9-2006

3 days to go before the Atlas 10K team take on the Lichfield 10K run.

Johanna Smith has won the award for the person who has lost most weight during the programme.

Johanna was presented with a voucher for 2 places at the Eden Day Spa at Hoar Cross Hall in Staffordshire.
The prize was jointly donated by John Williams of Atlas Pain Relief Centre and Mr S Joynes from Eden Day Spa.

Johanna has lost over 5 stones during the training programme and given up smoking up to 60 cigarettes per day. When Johanna first joined the Atlas 10K squad she could only manage to walk 100yds before becoming breathless. She is now running 5 miles per day and completes a 10k run twice a week in training. Below is a photo of Johanna before she joined the Atlas 10k programme.

Truly remarkable as this seems Johanna is hoping to break 60 minutes for the 10k race and reports that she has achieved somewhere in the region of 50 minutes recently in training.

Tom Dixon our sprightly 76 year old will be running with her but at these kind of times Johanna is likely to leave him behind. Johanna intends to increase her distance running and plans a half marathon in the future with the long term goal of running a full marathon. This is a long way from previously struggling to walk 100 yards.

We will only be taking a small team to run in the race as many of our squad have stopped training over the 10 month period. It would be great if they could attend on the day to cheer the team on.

Our candidates that will run for the Birmingham Childrens Hospital are Helen O’Reilly, Samantha Turnbull, Johanna Smith, Karen Whitehouse, Tom Dixon and John Williams.

Thanks go to everyone who helped us along the way and to the squad members who were part of our journey, but are sadly not able to join us on the day.

Remember – Failure is when you stop trying ! Train Hard – Win Easy ! jw

2-8-2006 Atlas 10k team prepare for final 5 weeks training

After 9 months of training we are just over a month away from the Lichfield 10k race in Staffordshire.

The team has been selected and will be divided into 3 groups.

Group 1 will be 76 year old Tom Dixon and 50 year old Johanna Smith

Group 2 will be John Williams, Sam Turnbull, Helen O’Reilly, Adrian Summers

Fun Run will be Karen Whitehouse who had limited opportunities to train recently due
to family bereavement

Natalie Smith although very keen and hard working failed to make the team because she struggled with compartment syndrome which is a sports injury of the calfs. This condition limited her ability to exercise and although brave and determined we had to stand her down for the good of the team. We admire your courage and pay tribute to all the hard work you have put in over the last 9 months Natalie, well done !

Anyone wishing to make a donation to the Birmingham Childrens Hospital can do so by supporting our runners. We would all love to see previous squad members and would appreciate your support on the day. Come along and cheer the group on because you all know how hard these individuals have worked.

Tamworth Weight Loss Success forAtlas 10K team member.

Tamworth based Johanna is showing an example to anyone that exercise and controlled intake of calories is the way to lose weight and get fit.

50 year old Johanna Smith has introduced a lifestyle change which has taken her from smoking over 60 cigarettes per day and weighing 16 stones at a height of only 5 feet 1 inch tall. losing an incredible 4 stones and stopping smoking completely Johanna has been an inspiration to the Tamworth members of the Atlas 10K squad and is currently in training to run the Lichfield 10K race in September.

Johanna is currently running regular sessions of 5 miles at a time and is well on track to complete the Lichfield 10K course in September.

Johanna Smith Profile

Name: Johanna Smith (aka Honey)
DOB: 15th May 1956
Height: 5′1″
Highest weight: 16stone (2003)
Weight at joining Atlas team: 14st 2lb
Weight now: 10st 2lbs
Weight lost on Atlas 10k squad training – 4 stones

In 2003 i stopped smoking and going from 60+ cigarettes a day to nothing caused me to gain alot of weight. I yo-yoed up and down with different diets but managed to lose 2 stone on the Mayo Clinic Diet which was a crash diet. Then my daughter joined weight watchers and asked me to go with her, so i did. A couple of weeks later my daughter saw the Atlas advert in the paper and went along to the meeting. When she got back she explained that although the advert had said you had to be over 17stone as long as you were obviously overweight you could join. I was so unfit that i could not walk 10mins without being out of breath and was coming up to my 50th and wanted to be fit and fifty not fat and fifty! So i joined the team too. I was really pleased that i was able to do this with my daughter, she (being heavier than i am) gave me the inspiration to keep going with it. We’ve both come along way from being able to run only 100 meters to today running 5 miles.

8-6-2006

Atlas 10k team member who has left the UK to be a holiday travel rep has contacted us to say ” keep up the good work and i will continue training abroad and join you all in September 2006 to run the Lichfield 10k race with you “

Trisha that is fantastic news and we look forward to seeing you.

The remaining squad of dedicated runners now have a few months left to improve their fitness and achieve a remarkable result. Its a shame that certain individuals have dropped out, because they too could have joined us. Success is never easy and when tough goals are set it needs a special determination and a strong will to succeed.

I am disappointed that the Birmingham Childrens Hospital has fewer representatives now and that the individuals who generously donated their time and efforts have fewer success stories than expected, however
lets concentrate on positives.

Everyone who took part was introduced to exercise and its benefits.

Teamwork and comradery was seen by everyone who trained with us

We still have team members who will achieve the feat of running a 10k race

On a personal note i wish to thank everyone who has supported us so far and congratulate those who are still working hard and turning up for training. Although this has been a tough assignment in time management for me, i will stick with it until the race in September. If we only get one person to line up at the start line wearing the Atlas 10k shirt i will be very proud of what they have achieved.

I couldn’t do this without the support and help of the inspirational Tom Dixon our 76 year old Tamworth Triathlete who leads the way in training for us. Thank you Tom!

30-5-2006

Weight Loss Tamworth has returned. Tamworth Osteopath, Physiotherapist and Sports Injury Specialist John Williams is back off holiday to take up the training of our Atlas 10k team once more. Some are doing very well and should have no problem completing the 10k Lichfield course. Lets see a good turnout on Tuesdays and Thursdays at Tamworth Athletic Club. Keep up the good work

Regards John Williams

2-5-2006

Visit Atlas Pain Relief Centre for back pain Tamworth. Tamworth Osteopath, Tamworth Physiotherapist and Sports Injury Specialists can diagnose your injury and get you back training.

Tonight one of our Atlas 10k squad posted her intentions to achieve success of completing the Lichfield 10k run in september 2006. 5 miles of continuous running was achieved tonight by Hunny, our very own duracell bunny. Congratulations to you for all the hard work you have put in so far. I want to see more achieve this target soon.

We have a hard core of dedicated individuals who are still working hard and losing weight and inches. The swimmers are not forgotten and will get some coverage soon. Keep up the good work.

Train Hard – Win easy jw

30-3-2006

Thanks to Julie and Mike for a great evening of both fun and hard work. Not only have we all been taught some cool moves on the dancefloor but now have certificates to prove it. Natalie was the diva on the dancefloor tonight and looks a natural salsa queen.

June from the Globe pub was very generous in donating the room for us to use, so thanks a lot June

The turnout was disappointing considering this has been booked and on the website for months now.

Attendance is dropping off on training sessions and events and if you want this programme to be successful you must all make an effort to attend. You may feel you are the only one to miss a session or two but this impacts on everyone else. This is supposed to be a team effort so if you want it to continue, you must support it.

Next training is Sunday 2nd April at the track. After this there are changes to the training which will be notified soon.

I hope the legs are not too tired after tonight. Train Hard – Win Easy

22-3-2006

Well another freezing cold night tonight and a lot of folks missing. Well done to the dedicated ones that turned up and worked well. Helen managed 2 full laps of jogging at the end of a 15 lap session and toms group did another 20 laps tonight.

Changes are afoot. Beginning next week there will be no wednesday night training

Midweek sessions are Tuesdays and Thursday Nights at 8pm – 9.30pm from now on

Remember not to turn up at the stadium on thursday 30th march as we are salsa dancing at the Globe Inn in Lower Gungate.

Everyone should be doing extra work now other than our designated training nights.

Train Hard – Win Easy jw

21-3-2006

Well back from Rio and the weather is freezing, 35 degrees over in Brazil so a bit of a reality shock on my return. My thanks to Jason, Tom and Jo who looked after things while i was away.

Congratulations to the winning pair of Natalie and Honey in the orienteering competition, you have a trophy in the cabinet. I hear that Malvern was good fun but not hard enough for you so i have arranged a more challenging activity for later.

Next activity is Salsa Dancing on thursday evening on 30th March at the Globe Inn Pub in Lower Gungate.
Start time i think is 8pm but i will confirm later. This is for squad members only and not their partners, i will arrange for male models to partner the girls so dress to thrill!

Please bring your dancing shoes for this 2 hour session of exercise fun and laughter. First hour will be a dance lesson followed by a dance workout. The teachers and the pub are kindly donating the evening free of charge so i would like to see a good turnout please.
The object is for squad members to experience a wide variety of exercise activities so be there !

Well done to Natalie who did 8 laps of jogging and 8 laps of walking last Sunday with me, and Toms group who did 20 laps of hard work.

At the beginning of April we increase the laps to 20 at every session. We seem to have a few members missing training but if you want success you must attempt to attend every session. Once you begin to miss you will soon stop altogether.

We have our swimmers working well with Paul Ferrier and losing weight. Keep up the good work !

The warmer weather is soon approaching and this will make our job easier, remember you have already come a long way in changing your habits and getting so much fitter. I am really proud of you all well done !

Train Hard – Win easy ! jw