Athletes

James is the current vice chair of the Athlete Leadership Team and represents Derbyshire. He competes in badminton and also coaches the sport. In his spare time, James enjoys long-distance running.

In 2022, James ran the Derby 10k in 59:15 and later improved his time to 54:07 at the Heanor 10k in November. In 2023, he kept getting faster, finishing the Derby 10k in 47:16.

He then took on four half marathons. First, he completed the Ramathon in 1:47:39. Despite hot weather, he finished the Great North Run in 1:52:00, followed by the Robin Hood Half Marathon in 1:43:19. Finally, three weeks later, James ran the Manchester Half Marathon, finishing in 1:41:00, feeling strong and full of energy. His fuelling plan worked perfectly throughout.

In 2024, James ran the London Marathon in a time of 4:27:52 and also the Great North Run for a 2nd time beating his previous time by 10 minutes and 8 seconds to finish in a time of 1:41:51.