Jordan Williams | On The Up And Running

Published Fri 03 Jun 2022

The Randwick Botany Harriers Club has always seen incredible success through it's Open distance running stars, but a new generation is emerging under the watchful eye of one of NSW's brightest distance running coaching talents - Jordan Williams.

This weekend, 115 years of athletics tradition and history will be combined with 6 years of passion, dedication, and learning behind the athlete, at the NSW XC Relay Championships (Upjohn Park).

Jordan himself was a very accomplished athlete before moving to coaching, as a national-level junior runner in Cross Country and Track and a keen all-round sportsman at school playing rugby, swimming, cricket and triathlon, before starting a training group in Centennial Park with seven young runners in 2016.



Jordan Williams running in the Under Armour All Out Mile last Wednesday, alongside his squad & The Run Squad

"The name Up And Running was suggested to me by one of my group's long-time supporters Johnathon Fletcher from Running Science so we registered the name and the rest is history as they say!"

Quite incredibly, 15 of Randwick Botany Harriers' 19 teams at this weekend's XC Relays (the second-largest number of teams fielded by a club) are under the watchful Williams' eye. But it's not all about running, with the squad understanding that with power in numbers, there's opportunities to do something bigger than just putting one forward in front of the other.

"We raised more than $20,000 for Frontline Workers by holding a 48 Hour Relay all over the Sydney Metropolitan area. We raised $4,000 to buy lunch for the nurses of the Sydney Children’s Hospital and the Local Police Force. And we put together a running event combining both of our squads called the “Run Back To Normality” with around 200 runners participating in 5 and 10km, and a Half and Full Marathon. The Run Squad (coached by Warren Williams) has also just been honoured with a named paver on a new monument in Centennial Park called the “Celebration Steps” for it’s support to emergency services during the pandemic."

The squad has also been largely shaped by Jordan's father, Warren Williams (2019 Athletics NSW Recreational Running Coach of the Year, coach of The Run Squad). Jordan attributes a variety of aspects of this unique father-son dynamic to how well their separate, but connected, groups work:

"Our two squads are very much connected, and dad and I are a great team. Runners from my squad sometimes join in on a morning session with dad and the adults are always so supportive and helpful to the juniors. It’s a really nice atmosphere for my kids to be a part of."

The group itself defines success on many different levels:

"I think what Dad and I have built is a community. We treat our runners like family and regardless of their ability they are all treated with equal respect. Word of mouth from our amazing families has seen the squad build to the big numbers we have today. Up And Running, like The Run Squad is very inclusive. There are no egos within the group and every runner is a part of the team. One thing that we are very proud of is the fact that every single runner we have coached started their running career with us. They weren’t developed by another group or coach and then came across to us already a champion. Our Champions are homegrown and that makes it even more special as a coach."



Some of the junior girls and boys competing at last year's XC Relays (images supplied by Warren Williams)

The connection between both Jordan and Warren's coaching squads into Randwick Botany Harriers has only gone from strength to strength, and all started with the Williams' in the early 2000's. 

"The connection with the Randwick Botany Club (RBH) is due to both dad and I representing the club from about 2003. We were always proud to run in the Blue and Gold and both raced in Cross Country and on the track in the colours. RBH were always very supportive of me when I travelled for National Championships and guys like President Jim Dawes were great mentors to me, he’s still a great mate. It was only natural that dad and I would stay loyal to the club and direct our athletes toward them for racing rather than form our own group."

"There must be equal support given to the Traditional Clubs and the Coaching Groups. Coaches need to get recognition for their efforts and their support of the clubs. For us at Randwick Botany it’s important to be a part of a cohesive team where all the coaches support each other and their athletes. We will always go out of our way to achieve the best results for our club."

The final question - what's the key to building what the Williams' have?

"Look after your squad. You are there for them and not for you. Every athlete is important, regardless of who they are and their ability."

Written by James Constantine, with thanks to Jordan & Warren Williams for their input


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