Stride Athletics Announce Athlete Springboard Winners

Glasgow, Scotland – Stride Athletics has confirmed five runners will be part of the inaugural Athlete Springboard, providing developing athletes support on their way to the elite stages of their career.

With over 250 applicants, Stride is delighted to announce the inaugural Athlete Springboard will consist of Sarah Calvert, Hannah Cameron, Meg Gadsby, Andrew McGill and Jacob Smith.

In line with Stride Athletics’ promise to support local athletes, one male and one female spot were allocated to those training or from the Central Belt of Scotland.

This initiative looks to bridge the gap between amateur and professional athletics and is supported in association with Achilles Heel.

These athletes will receive a support package until the end of 2025, including one-to-one mentoring with Olympic-level runners, kit, management support, merchandise and free race entries to Stride-associated events.

Callum Matthews, Founder and CEO of Stride Athletics said: "We are delighted to introduce our team of five for our first Athlete Springboard.

"When forming Stride, my dream was to represent the underrepresented in our sport through our media, but also through initiatives that provide support to them.

"The Athlete Springboard achieves just that and in association with Achilles Heel, we are looking to give rising stars that foundation that goes beyond just financial aid.

"We want to give these athletes all the tools possible to make that jump to professionalism that little bit easier."

Sarah Calvert

Sarah Calvert has been a rising star in Scottish running for years, having represented her beloved Livingston since she was a child. Her breakthrough season came in 2017 when she won the Celtic Games in the women’s 800m and represented Scotland at the UK School Games and SIAB International in the 1500m.

Results started to come in cross country the following year, winning bronze at the National Cross Country Championships and wearing the Scottish vest again at the SIAB Cross Country Championships. Sarah would don the British vest in 2019, representing her country at the European Athletics U20 Championships, finishing seventh in the women’s 800m final.

Another European final was made in 2023, when Sarah finished 11th in the women’s 1500m final at the European Athletics U23 Championships – a year where she took silver in the BUCS Cross Country Championships.

Following an 800m/1500m double victory at the Scottish Championships and eighth in the British Championships final over 1500m, Sarah heads into 2025 with high expectations.

Hannah Cameron

A staple of Scottish running for well over a decade, Hannah Cameron has excelled in cross country, but more importantly, on the track.

Now running for Aberdeen AAC, Hannah is finding herself on the cusp of British vests, having made British finals over 800m and 1500m in 2022 and continuing that form over the past two track seasons where she remains a staple of the British middle-distance scene and one of the most accomplished runners north of the border.

Hannah’s consistency is a large part of why she was selected for the Athlete Springboard, having made a Scottish podium in every full athletics season since 2011.

Meg Gadsby

Compared to her fellow athletes, Meg Gadsby was a latecomer to running, making her rise all the more impressive.

Meg was a county standout in Norfolk and slowly established herself as a useful player in the South of England before the COVID-19 pandemic. Once racing resumed over a year later, Meg finding joy in the final of the English Schools Championships over 1500m and achieved a top 20 finish at the European Cross Country Trials in 2021.

This trajectory continued upwards, culminating with victory in the Under 23 race at Liverpool, just three years after her modest finish there. Earlier in 2024, she finished sixth at the ECCA English Cross Country Championships and by the end of the year she donned the British vest to finish 23rd at the European Cross Country Championships in Antalya, Turkey.

2025 started with a bang, winning the South of England Cross Country Championships and setting a new 10K personal best of 32:55.

Andrew McGill

2024 was an incredible season for Andrew McGill, who wrote himself into Scottish all-time rankings, while signing off his junior career in tremendous fashion. At the Monument Mile, Andrew clocked a time of 3:55.89 to go 10th on the all-time list for the men’s mile in his first year as a senior.

It was one of his best results after a superb winter that saw him take victory in the men’s under 20 race at the Scottish National Cross Country Championships and finishing sixth at the European Cross Country Trials, seeing him travel to Brussels at the end of 2023, where he finished 22nd.

The Cambuslang Harriers athlete, formerly of Livingston, is a familiar face around Stride Athletics events, finish second at the inaugural Flat ‘N Fast, before winning Flat ‘N Fast 3 in September.

Jacob Smith

A northern lad, Jacob Smith has shown great promise over 800m as he has aged – and the post-pandemic results have been spectacular. In 2022, Jacob was a 53.6sec and 2:02.2 runner in the 400m and 800m respectively and has managed to bring those times down to 50.63 and 1:49.69 in the space of two years.

He managed these results while moving up to longer distances too – running 14:18 for 5K and finishing inside the top 40 at BUCS Cross Country Championships, a respectable result for a middle-distance athlete.

However, his crowning achievement at the BUCS Championships in 2024. At the Indoor Championships, he stormed to victory in the 800m before claiming silver in the summer at the Outdoor Championships.

Communications: Michael Houston, comms@strideathletics.co.uk