Meet The Leadership Team
Tahir Shams
Hi, I am Tahir and I'm the Programme Director for Tooting Run Club (TRC). I founded TRC in partnership with Herne Hill Harriers in late 2021, and am responsible for overseeing the entire operation. This includes putting the relevant infrastructure in place, developing systems & processes to ensure successful delivery of the programme, identification and deployment of a strong pool of volunteers, and developing content for social media.
I lead the TRC Red Group on Mondays, and also lead the Wednesday social run. I also chair our bi-monthly meeting of the TRC Steering Group, which sets the strategic direction of the club. We also have a bi-monthly meeting of the coaches, which seeks input and contributions from the wider team.
In terms of my running experience, I’m relatively late to the party and only started running in early 2017. I've raced at all distances right the way up to marathon level, but haven't quite the set the world alight with my pace! I’ll be running the 2023 London marathon, which is my big goal for this year.
Glen Keegan
Hey, my name's Glen and I am President of Herne Hill Harriers. I have been involved with TRC since the early days. I sit on the TRC Steering Group and also coach with TRC and Herne Hill Harriers.. I also keep track of TRC income and expenditure.
Overall, I have been helping out with the coaching at Herne Hill Harriers for the last 10 years. I am a fully qualified Athletics Coach and have also completed extra modules Strength & Conditioning, Safeguarding & Diversity and Inclusion.
I ran for Worthing Harriers in my youth, returned to running as a veteran. I have competed at distances from 100 metres to 145 miles, and have completed over 100 marathons! As I am more enthusiastic than naturally gifted I particularly enjoy encouraging other middle of the pack athletes to achieve their best.
Keith Newton
Hi, I’m Keith and I’ve been involved in TRC since day one. During my stint as President of Herne Hill Harriers (2019 - 2021), I’d been keen to get involved in a new outreach project and met Tahir in the autumn of 2021. He had just left his previous running group, and was keen to launch a new community group and we found our vision aligned so we talked about working together on a new project. Thus the foundations of TRC had been laid!
I sit on the TRC Steering Group, providing expert advice, support and challenge. Additionally, I lead on TRC applications for funding and liaison with partners. I am also the coach for the Blue group on Mondays.
I'm a lifelong runner and have particularly excelled at middle distance. My strongest event has been the 5000m, in which he achieved personal best of 14min 35! Over the past decade, I have been providing coaching assistance to middle/long distance athletes.
Andrew Black
I’m Andrew and I have been coaching the yellow group at TRC since the very first session in March 2022. I was awarded TRC Coach of the Year for 2022, and also conceived the idea of a handicap run series last summer which I enjoyed helping to organise immensely. As well as coaching on the track, I also coach on roads, paths and trails.
I am an England Athletics licensed Athletics Coach with an Event Group (Endurance) specialist qualification. At Herne Hill Harriers, I work in Steve Knight’s coaching group on Tuesdays and Thursdays. On Saturday mornings I set and frequently personally coaches the track programme for Wimbledon Windmilers. My experience ranges from U15 to V65 athletes and everyone in between.
I first started running as a school boy where the XC course included wading two streams on each muddy lap. I have a 1500m PB of 4:25 and 55 secs for 400m – all in the last Century.
Talat Shams
My name’s Talat and I’ve been part of the TRC team since January 2022, and am an original a co-lead of the TRC Green group. I took up running in 2018 after being inspired by Tahir, who was already a keen runner by that point. I started doing the Couch to 5K programme and found that I actually enjoyed it and found running quite exhilarating so much so that I then started taking part in races and have since completed a number of half marathons.
I am a Civil Servant and work as an Assistant Project Manager. I can usually be found at the gym, I love doing weight training, cardio , Pilates and yoga. I enjoy travelling the world and I’m also bit of a foodie.
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