The first ‘On Camp with Kelly’ Get-Together of 2011, sponsored by Aviva and hosted by Tonbridge School, has been branded as “one of the best yet” by the athletes who took part.

Taking place in Dame Kelly’s home town of Tonbridge in Kent, the weekend involved a mix of intense training, mentoring sessions and educational workshops as well as a visit to the Tunbridge Wells Half Marathon.

Kick starting the weekend’s proceedings was a tough training session at Knole Park in Sevenoaks, a former training venue of Kelly, during which the girls were pushed to their limits on the hilly, undulating terrain.  Despite adverse weather conditions, the athletes battled on to complete what was deemed an extremely beneficial session in the build up to the outdoor athletics season.  Speaking after the session Carolyn Plateau stated: “The session was tough but it was very beneficial.  Running in the same park Kelly used to train in was inspiring and I always push myself hard when running with the other girls.”

The weekend also saw the inclusion of a financial planning session led by Helen Carey, an Aviva financial adviser, who delivered an extremely interesting workshop on managing your finances effectively.  Topics covered included debts, loans, tax and even pensions.  Kelly believes that this was a timely intervention for the OCWK athletes, saying: “Many of these girls are coming to a stage in their careers where they are potentially going to be earning prize money and sponsorship the need to be able to use this money effectively is paramount.  Aviva have delivered an engaging and thought provoking workshop which will I am sure will serve the girls well in years to come.”

This sentiment was echoed by Tara Bird who said: “it was one of the best OCWK events we have had.  I took a lot of information from it and I am really grateful that Kelly teaches us about life skills as well as just specific training information.”

Sunday saw the athletes start the day with an early morning training session, following which they supported the Dame Kelly Holmes Legacy Trust at the Tunbridge Wells Half Marathon by making collections, handing out medals and goody bags and raising awareness for the charity.  In the afternoon they took part in a workshop with Kelly which provided guidance on mental preparation for competition and they also had an opportunity to think about their goals for the forthcoming season.

The Get-Together ended with Pilates session with Sandrine Walker who runs her own Pilates studio in Tunbridge Wells.  The session helped the athletes to improve their body alignment and breathing and to correct muscle imbalances.  The athletes all found the session very enjoyable as well as beneficial.

Overall, the weekend was considered by all to be a great success and extremely timely given the impending outdoor athletics season.  Leigh Lennon encapsulated this thought, stating: “The mentoring, talks and training have all been great.  Working with all the girls is always really motivating and I am now really looking forward to the outdoor season.”

Dame Kelly concluded: “It is always a pleasure to work with such a great bunch of talented athletes.  I hope that the weekend has equipped them well for what promises to be an exciting outdoor season.  I would like to thank Aviva for the fantastic financial planning session they provided and for the ongoing support they continue to provide to ‘On Camp with Kelly’.”