ABOUT US
Running on Old Legs
James Willis and his entire pit crew.
In my youth, many years ago, I was very much a sportsman. Attending a Hackney, London comprehensive school gave me the opportunity to experience a whole range of sports and cross country-running was quite late on the scene but very quickly became my main winter sport.
Representative honours at school, district and London level made my running an all demanding pleasure until university, and females, curtailed my 'career' Training time commitment s being so much less I chose to continue playing cricket, rugby and football rather than continuing to run.
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Upon retirement my wife and I relocated to Malaysia and soon after, at the tender age of sixty-three, I took up running again. Initially as a bucket list item but then for the shear desire to run, and, within my age group, be competitive.
I am fortunate enough to have an entire pit-crew at my disposal. I generally refer to my crew as Delia, my long suffering wife and My coach Delia ‘push it’ Willis, head of logistics Delia ‘satnav’ Willis, Nutritionist Delia ‘smithy’ Willis, Masseur, Delia ‘fingers’ Willis, fashion advisor Delia 'stitch it' Willis and Dobi Delia ‘scrubber’ Willis, without who's support I would not be able to compete as I do. We, in my short rebirth as a runner have had the pleasure of running not jusy here in Malaysia, both east and west, but also in Vietnam, Mongolia, Tasmania, England, New Zealand, Ireland, USA, Bhutan, Iceland, South Africa, Singapore and Australia. So you could say it's been something of an adventure so far with more to come.
I have nothing to sell. I have only my honest opinions to give.
My passion for running road and trail has developed into a desire to see the running scene here in Malaysia develop into an all encompassing, better organised arena for anyone who wants to run, be they elite or back of the packers, be they juniors or veterans.
Malaysian running is a booming industry that needs to be nurtured and alowed to grow and be developed, at a reasonable pace, by responcible organisers that are not just out to make a quick buck.
We need organisers that will not pander to the few 'elites' that feel they have a right to win, by making events Malaysian Only,
Malaysian runners are all members of the World Wide Family of Runners and as such should be able to compete against all and celebrate our differences, we need to embrace and learn from others who may run faster. Train harder, train smarter and compete stronger.
HAPPY RUNNING