Matt Ashman only started running when he was 39. 

Fast-forward seven years and he’s now chair, secretary and welfare officer at CLC Striders, the increasingly popular running club in Cheltenham. 

He’s also a qualified running coach, something he really enjoys.

“As a coach, it’s always really satisfying to see people achieve their PBs,” he said.

Running is a very big part of Ashman's life these days.

“I did bits of running before but nothing too much." he said. "Then a friend of mine suggested I join CLC Striders.”

And he’s never looked back.

“I fell in love with running and I fell in love with the club,” he continued. “The club is full of great people, there’s a great team spirit and I love running PBs.”

Ashman, who lives and works in Cheltenham, is a quarter of the way through his second two-year term as chair, after taking over as secretary in 2019.

And while he has an important role to play on the admin side – he’s part of a hardworking, nine-strong committee – he still finds plenty of time to get his running shoes on. 

When he spoke to The Local Answer, the one-time Rednock School pupil had just completed the Stroud Half Marathon in one hour, 35 minutes, which he said “wasn’t bad, as I hadn’t really done any training!”.

That’s not too far off his PB for 13.1 miles and he continued: “I like a half-marathon, but I like the shorter distances too.

“I do a parkrun every week, either at KGV or Pittville, and I quite like a 5-mile race.”

He insists a marathon is “way out of my capability” and wishes he had taken up running a lot earlier in his life.

He’s recently taken up cycling, but running is his main thing, along with CLC Striders, of course.

“What I love about the Striders is that it is such an inclusive, welcoming club," he said.

“We welcome people of all abilities and our training sessions – on Mondays and Wednesdays – cater for everyone.

“The club is in really good health and we’ve got new members joining all the time. You can try us out and come to sessions before deciding to join.”

For more information, visit https://clcstriders-runningclub.co.uk/training.