Tom Whiting was President of the University of York Athletics and Running Club from 2025 to 2026. In the same year he represented Vale of York in the West Yorkshire and PECO cross country leagues and in the York and District Road Race League, and he finished his cross country season by breaking 17 minutes for 5K. He graduated last summer and remains a Vale of York member.
We caught up with him on a break on the east coast of Australia.
What have you been up to since you left York, and how did the degree go?
Since leaving university I continued to train under the 10k plan on VDOT whilst working my annual summer job in York and the Isle of Wight, where I was managing activities at an international language school. Since summer ended in the UK it didn’t take long before I booked a flight and started travelling the east coast of Australia, enjoying the warm weather!
I was very pleased with my results at uni and have running to thank for keeping me sane and helping me balance my time throughout the final months, which became quite tedious with endless reading and hours in the library!
His degree was politics with international relations. As Tom puts it, in light of world events, “I think it was one of the most interesting periods of time for the degree and over the last 5 years of studying the subject.”
What was it like to be President of UOYAC in your final year?
Being President was hard work a lot of the time but it was a privilege to have the role, and I found it extremely rewarding to give back to both the club and the sport which I love so much! I really enjoyed working with everybody in the club and our committee, and there was definitely a lot of support throughout the year which made it a lot easier to balance my time between the club, uni, and athletics!
And you cracked sub 17 at the same time. Is it true you refused to buy carbon shoes until you had done it?
Yes, it has been something I have been wanting for a while, so as XC season ended I shifted my focus directly towards the 5K. It was during challenge week, our annual club fundraiser, that I finally achieved my goal, which was probably a helping hand as we had so many members of the club turning out to race alongside me or support from the side. This was also in my final week as president, so it was a great ending to the year!
It is true that I refused to buy carbons. I think because it was such a big goal for me I felt that paying for some faster shoes wouldn’t feel like I had earned the time in the same way, and as soon as I made the decision I was too stubborn to back down!
It is also worth mentioning that there were higher stakes than just my time, as I had made a bet with a fellow student at the start of the year over who could break 17 minutes first. The end result being that he had to run around York in his speedos during our club run!
What next, for running and for life?
At the moment, for the first time, I don’t have any specific goals and am just running to explore, maintain fitness and enjoy the sport! I am sad to miss the XC season in the UK, but hopefully warm weather training will set me up for next year’s road season, where I will focus again on 10ks and work through the “Grand Pres” which takes place at home in Norfolk.
Thank you, Tom
The partnership between Vale of York and the University of York Athletics and Running Club is stronger because of Tom. He represented Vale of York at West Yorkshire, at PECO and in the York and District Road Race League, all while running the university club and finishing a degree.
Good luck in Australia, Tom, and we hope to see you on a start line somewhere when you are back.
