Another article written by our young member Emma Leiper, once again, we are very grateful to have young members who are willing to proactively help publicise andm document the successes of our athletes.
Zoe Roberts is an outstanding U16 athlete and has been a member of Shettleston Harriers for many years. She is a great club member and consistently competes in 600m and 800m events and still has a love for long jump. Currently, Zoe is part of Glasgow School of Sport and trains with both the school and the club. She has made huge progress in her time at the club and continues to achieve great success.
After asking about her progress and success during the winter, she replied saying, “I feel that I had a steady winter training and that I progressed quite well.” She then continued to speak about an achievement that she was very pleased with, “I was most proud of winning a medal at the Indoor English Championships.” This is a huge accomplishment for Zoe as she was the fastest qualifier in her heat and then achieved a medal in the final. She also recently won the Scottish Schools 800m, as well as the U16 800m.
She discussed what she likes most about winter training, saying, “I really enjoy the social aspect of it” She went on to explain how she is surrounded by a supportive training environment and how incredibly grateful she is for that.
In addition, she mentions that her goal for the near future would be to compete in the Youth Commonwealth Games in Malta next year which would be a major milestone for herself at such a young age.
Zoe then goes on to talk about one of her favourite training groups that she has been a part of for some time, “My favourite training group is my Shettleston Endurance Group as I believe that we are all very supportive of one another and we always keep training fun.” This highlights how these young athletes can keep themselves motivated and excited about training with their friends. Zoe also trains all throughout the year with her winter training taking place at Glasgow Green on a Thursday evening, with her club mates, training in all weather.
After some difficult injuries in November and March, these affected Zoe’s progress and goals for that season. She expresses how she limits her training whenever she feels something isn’t quite right. She states, “Whenever I feel little tweaks or niggles, I manage to treat them well with some rest and recovery, and thankfully they haven’t had any lasting impacts. It’s always good to stay patient with them.”
Recently, Zoe has achieved several new medals and shared how important they are to her, “My indoor national gold medal is one of my favourite achievements as it was my first-ever Scottish National Title.” Claiming this title was a very proud moment and reflected the hard work she put into getting there.
Zoe has attained many exceptional personal bests through her tireless work, but one stands above all, “My 800m personal best definitely means the most to me, and after running under 2.10 for the first time, it is a memory I will never forget.” After targeting this milestone for the longest time, it was a huge accomplishment and something she will cherish forever. This result was achieved at Crownpoint Track and on that same night, a few other of Zoe’s training partners also took away some important PB’s that they all celebrated together.
Finally, Zoe discusses her aims and goals for the summer on the track by saying, “This summer, I’m hoping to break the old Scottish U15 record for the 800m and try to win the outdoor national 800m title.”
Zoe has now been selected to run for the Schools International Team, SIAB. She will take part in this competition, in Belfast this month.
Shettleston Harriers wish Zoe all the best for all her future endeavours.
