One of the many things we love about The Pivotal Space community is that we get to meet so many fabulous people who share and inspire us with such wonderful stories about their passions and what they enjoy… so we wanted to ‘shine a light’ on these with a ‘spotlight’ to tell you about them… in their words.
We’re starting with Eni Font Freide…
You'll know Eni if you're a regular at Gerry's Woking fitness classes. She returned to running later in life, and she's now a World Masters Athlete and medalist!...
I’m Eni and have always been interested in sport – at school there was a lot on offer: hockey, netball, athletics (all fun), plus the dreaded weekly swimming. Apologies to any swimmers out there! The track was my first love however, and I won the county 200 metres (under 15).
School behind me, sport somehow took a backseat, although I was very interested in watching events on TV. It did not really feature in my life again, until my children were a little older, and I had time to get to the gym and be involved in group activity (Zumba, Pump etc), which I highly recommend for getting fit and enjoying a well-earned coffee afterwards {okay, and maybe the odd muffin!}.
Fast forward quite a bit, and wanting to continue with group activity, but branch out a bit, I dabbled with triathlon and distance running, but at heart I was still a sprinter.
So it happened that in 2016 I signed up to a club that had a Masters group, masters being anyone aged 35+. I found my groove again with sprinting in a summer league. I also filled in occasionally to gain points for the club by doing the shot put. I am no shot-putter, but it is all about participating.
In 2018, on a whim, I signed up to the World Masters Athletics competition, and to my great surprise, secured a place in the World final of the 100 metres! I also took home a bronze medal in the 100-metre relay.
The picture above is me (on the right) with one of my greatest teammates and rivals!... She is a great multi-eventer, also in her mid years, we still love that competitive edge and demonstrates the brilliant team spirit of the sport.
I have since gone on to participate in other European and World championships, and hope to continue for a long time, injury permitting. Last year, we gave a standing ovation to a ninety-year-old gentleman, who had completed a half marathon in the European championships. Clearly, age does not have to be a barrier to doing what you enjoy.
I would say to anyone who loved athletics way back – dust off those trainers and get back on the track – just take it easy at the start! And who knows, you may have a medal round your neck some day!
For further info on Masters’ athletics, contact the BMAF.
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