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The Runner's Tribe Athlete Sponsorship Program
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Runner’s Tribe, together with long time sponsor New Balance, are proud to announce sponsorship for the following athletes over the next 12 months:
- Celia Sullohern (Distance, Cross-Country)
- Eliza Curnow (800m/1500m)
- Johnny Rayner (800m)
The above athletes are all future stars in Australian athletics and are all under the age of 21, so it’s an exciting time for Runner’s Tribe to be sponsoring the next generation of Olympic hopefuls.
Below we profile each athlete:
Celia Sullohern (NSW)
- Born: 05/07/1992
- Coach: Scott Westcott
- Personal Best's:
- 3000m - 9:30.26
- 5000m - 16:14.47 (mix)
- 6km CC - 20:02
- Major Achievements:
- 21st - 2011 World Junior Cross Country Championships
- 1st - 2011 World Junior Cross Country Trials
- 1st - 2011 Australian Junior Cross Country Championships
- 1st - 2011 NSW Cross Country Championships (U/20)
- 1st - 2011 NSW Short Course Cross Country Championships (U/20)
- 2nd - 2010 Australian All Schools Cross Country Championships
- 2nd - 2010 Australian Junior and Youth Championships (3000m)
- 3rd - 2010 Oceania Cross Country Championships
There is no doubt that Sullohern is an athlete on the rise, with her crowning moment coming at the 2011 World Junior Cross Country Championships. Only 10 Australian junior women have ever placed in the top-20 at the World Championships, so Sullohern's 21st placing was an outstanding result.Sullohern has recently moved out of home to attend University in Newcastle (Bachelor of Physotherapy), and is now 100% focussed on a running career. Although she has raced sparingly on the track in the past, Sullohern will attempt to set PB's over 3000m and 5000m over the coming domestic season.
Overall Sullohern is a very talented athlete with a great future over the distance events, both on the track and in Cross Country events. Look out for even more big performances from the 19 year-old over the coming 12 months!
Eliza Curnow (VIC)
- Born: 03/03/1992
- Coach: Bruce Sriven
- Personal Bests:
- 800m - 2.04.83
- 1500m - 4.25.56
- Major Achievements:
- 1st - 2011 Australian Junior Championships (800m)
- 2nd - 2011 Australian Junior Championships (1500m)
- 3rd - 2010 Australian Junior Championships (800m)
- 3rd - 2010 Australian Junior Championships (1500m)
- 2nd - 2009 Australian All-Schools Championships (800m)
- 5th - 2011 Australian Open Championships (800m)
Curnow burst onto the scene in 2011 with an impressive win at the Australian Junior Championships, but more impressive was her 5th placing at the Australian Open Championships in Melbourne in April. Her time of 2.04.83 places her at no.10 on the Australian Junior all-time ranking list and more importantly it showed us that Eliza Curnow is a name to watch out for in 2012.Expectations are high for the 19 year-old Victorian over the coming years, with a time around 2.02 over the coming domestic season definately on the cards. With Tamysn Manou likely to race many times over 800m throughout the domestic season (chasing an Olympic "A" qualifier) it will be a great opportunity for Curnow to step up into the senior ranks and race the likes of Manou and fellow Victorians, Kelly Hetherington and Katherine Katsanevakis on a regular basis.
Johnny Rayner (VIC)
- Born: 25/03/1991
- Coach: Gregor Gojzeweski
- Personal Bests:
- 400m - 48.20sec (2010)
- 800m - 1.47.98 (2011)
- Major Achievements:
- 3rd - 2011 Australian Championships (800m)
- 4th - 2010 Australian Junior Championships (400m)
- Member of the 4x400m squad for 2010 World Junior Championships
In all honesty there would have been a few people at Olympic Park who were watching the men's 800m final at the 2011 Australian Championships saying Johnny who? Although Rayner represented Australia at the World Junior Championships in the 4x400m (although he didn't manage to run due to injury), many athletic fans wouldn't have known too much about Johnny Rayner prior to his bronze medal performance at the Australian Championships.This is largely due to the fact that Rayner was almost lost to another sport entirely - AFL football. Therefore in 2008/09 we didn't see much of Rayner on the track, after previously running a 1.51.50 as a 16 year-old in 2007. Although a career in the AFL has eluded Rayner, we are now witnessing one of the next middle distance stars in Australia - specifically over the two laps. What can Rayner produce in 2012? Only time will tell, but we can tell you that there is much excitement surrounding this 'surprise' bronze medalist from the 2011 Australian championships!
Both my business partner and I are passionate athletes, Raf has represented Australia in Duathlon at an elite level, his best result to date being a #3 World Ranking. I have been lucky enough to race as an age grouper in Kona for the Ironman World Champs and represented Australia at the ITU Long Course and Olympic distance championships. The opportunity arose when my athletic coach and I were talking whilst running one day. I have 15 years retail and brand management experience, spending most of my time with Diageo, the world’s largest spirits company. Raf Baugh is also a skilled Physiotherapist and level 2 triathlon coach. Raf's background has given us valuable insight and credibility in the Australian market both with his athletic accomplishments and his successful running coaching business “Front Runner”. Both Raf and I had a real passion for starting a small business focusing on running in WA and our unique skills combined well to allow the Running Centre to be born.
1) Was aware of the need to correctly fit their feet to the right shoes and would actively search for retailers that provided this service and were willing to pay extra to get more technical running / training equipment if the advice they were given was accurate and consistent. Our main competitive advantage is we are a small business that only employees runners (all with degree level education and most in sports science or physiotherapy) who understand intimately the equipment we sell and are trained and monitored on-going by a qualified physiotherapist. Only having one shop allows us to maintain this consistency of service and level of expertise.
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Ben: Thanks! It is great to have won a national title and to be confirmed as a member of the Australian team. My plans leading up to Delhi aren't set in stone yet; I will need to sit down and work out the best plan of attack with my coach Sean Williams and manager Nic Bideau. At the moment I am training at altitude in Laguna (California, USA) and will race for the first time in Europe in May and July to get some much needed international experience, before heading back home to prepare for the Commonwealth Games. There may well be some more training and racing stints closer to the Games, and I know that there will be some expectations from Athletics Australia with regards to travel and race preparation, so that will need to be taken into account. In terms of my training, I will keep doing what seems to be working well and hopefully continue to improve in the lead-up to the games..jpg)
manager at ING Australia (Richard High) is flexible with the structure of my weekly hours, as well as the need to take time off to travel to races. My role as Health and Wellbeing Consultant gives me access to an onsite gym and change-rooms which makes everything quite time-efficient. I'm fairly good at balancing work and training; the things that tend to suffer are housework, cooking (cereal for dinner), socialising and the ability to listen attentively to any conversation that lasts longer than about 30 seconds.
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