Record breaking runner calls for better funding

Holly Archer smashed the Ipswich Half Marathon record by nearly six minutes

A professional runner who raced to victory at the Ipswich Half Marathon and smashed the course record has called for more funding for athletics.

Holly Archer, part of the Cambridge & Coleridge running club, completed the 13.1-mile route in a time of 01:15:55, breaking the previous women's record by about six minutes.

The 31-year-old, who lives in Thetford but is from Bury St Edmunds, attributes her success to the access she had to independent sports clubs when she was younger.

But, despite the government pledging more than £900m towards major sport events and grassroots sports across the UK, Ms Archer believes more needs to be done.

"Why are we so behind still in athletics?" she said.

"There is still not much money in athletics and there is a lack of funding at a grassroots stage."

Record breaker Ms Archer (middle) said there needed to be more funding for grassroots athletics

She spoke to BBC Suffolk after Team GB failed to win a gold medal at the World Athletics Championships for the first time in 20 years.

"All the coaches are voluntary, which is brilliant, but we need coaches who understand how to get a teenager to America or the Olympics - but you need money," she said.

"I wasn't very good in the classroom and if I hadn't had that out-of-school place [to try athletics] I don't know where I would be, so I am very grateful for the grassroots system."

The runner is no stranger to the tracks of Suffolk, having often trained in West Suffolk

The government announced its Plan for Change project in June, which it says will see a "transformational investment" of £900m injected into sport in the UK.

Some of that money will go towards the hosting of the 2026 European Athletics Championships in Birmingham.

Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, Lisa Nandy, said: "Coupled with strong investment into grassroots sport, we're creating a complete pathway to allow the next generation of sporting heroes to train and take part in sport in communities across the UK."

'Lovely support'

And it is Ms Archer's journey through the grassroots system that she says stood her in good stead.

The professional runner, who has ADHD and dyslexia, has become a 1,500m national indoor champion - and won silver in the same event at the European Athletics Indoor Championships.

She has also won the Run Norwich race two years in a row and clocked a time of 2:39:45 at this year's London Marathon.

Her most recent victory came at the Ipswich Half Marathon which, despite its steep hills, proved to be a record-breaking one.

"I didn't actually know about the record because usually if I am going to go for it I have these things lined up," she said.

"I actually wanted to make sure it was a controlled race, so I kind of used it as a training run, but I am proud.

"It was a really nice vibe and I had lovely support."