At 14 years of age Matthew Williams is highly regarded by the coaches at Pembrokeshire Harriers as a middle-distance runner of immense promise who has already received his coveted Welsh Vest for representing Wales against his counterparts from England, Scotland and Northern Ireland after winning the Welsh 800 metres at Leckwith Stadium in Cardiff.
Not content with that feat, Matthew was also selected to represent Wales twice over 5kms at the London Marathon. His selection for this world-famous event, which helps set the stage for the senior race including the world’s top marathon runners, also came from his earlier prowess.
Exciting times
Only 300 junior runners are allowed to take part after pre-qualification in county or county races and one of the memorable features is the fact that the races go up The Mall and finish in exactly the same place as the London Marathon itself. Equally exciting was that Denise Lewis was involved and the race was started by Arsenal and England footballer Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain.
Their Welsh vests and the trophies were supplied by Richard Branson, of Virgin fame, and the Welsh team stayed together at the Royal Holloway College, Egham in Surrey, before a very early set-off of 7.30am because the race started at 9.30am and they had to negotiate the big crowds beginning to muster for the special day.
Great family support
Cheering him on were parents Peter and Wendy, who have been great supporters, along with big brother Michael (who used to play rugby for Haverfordwest Youth when Dai Llewellin was coach). Throw in both sets of grandparents Anthony and Margaret Williams, plus Anne and Gareth Hughes, and Matthew certainly wasn’t short of people to cheer him on!
Early start and then poached by Peter
Like a lot of other young athletes, Matthew took up the sport in school as he excelled in the cross country at Oakwood after winning a race at Milford Haven School. He was first in year seven at Oakwood and was still at the front of the queue in the most recent under 15s competition.
The natural progression was into the Pembrokeshire Harriers and although he had showed his prowess as a sprinter in Primary School at Coastlands he set out in middle distance when Peter Freeman allegedly ‘poached him’ and got him involved in 800 and 1500 metres!
Commitment to training pays off
Matthew thoroughly enjoys the twice weekly training on the Astroturf at STP School and can often be found on runs of about four miles around the family home. He has also started some weight training and it is evidently paying off because when he recently represented Pembrokeshire Harriers in the Gerald Codd Memorial Trophy against runners from Bridgend, Swansea, Neath and Carmarthen he won the 800 metres by a distance in a record time of 2mins 07 seconds, and sportingly waited to shake hands and say ‘well done’ to all those who trailed in his wake!
Welsh success
Prior to that important event in the Harriers’ calendar, Matthew also entered the Welsh 800 metres in Cardiff, where the runners found themselves in time-trial situation where each took part in one of three races and the best time overall was winner. It meant that everyone had to run flat out, rather than use tactics, and Matthew’s creditable 2.06 seconds saw him three seconds in front of his closest rival.
Other sports
Outside of his running, Matthew also used to be involved in several other sports. He played full back for Haverfordwest RFC and in midfield for Hakin United, plus cricket for Haverfordwest and Pembrokeshire under the respective guidance of Rick Walton and Ian Poole, but his involvement in athletics meant that he had to focus on it at the expense of his other sports – although he is going to play football for Prendergast Villa again this season..
Major influences
Ask him about influences on his running and Matthew would be quick to nominate his parents, of course, alongside Peter Freeman in particular at the Harriers, plus sprint coach Richard Thomas, Liz and Nigel Rowland. His athletics heroes are David Rudisha, the Kenyan 800 metres Olympic and world champion, plus Mo Farrah.
His ambitions include winning more Welsh vests, especially one on the track because he just missed out this year. But he was running against athletes two years older and it is an exciting thought that he has that time to develop even further in the under 17 category. Representing Great Britain would be another aim for the talented young middle-distance athlete.
And finally . . .
He knows that there is still plenty of hard work ahead but is ready for the challenge. Matthew Williams has already harnessed genuine skill to real endeavour and we are very confident that he is destined to achieve his ambitions in middle-distance running over the next few years!