"A memory I will cherish forever" - Shropshire runner beats a pro at the Keely Klassic
An amateur runner from Shropshire got to live the life of a professional for two hours in front of thousands of athletics fans.
Declan Johnson was at the Keely Klassic in Birmingham with his girlfriend Megan Potts to watch some of the biggest names in British athletics when he was selected to take to the track for a 400-metre battle against a professional.
And not only did the 27-year-old enjoy the experience he held on to win the race at the Utilita Arena - helped by a little bit of a head start.
"I’ve only been running for 18 months, and I’m a Shropshire Shuffler which is a local running club," said Declan, from Frankwell, Shrewsbury. "I would class myself as a good runner in comparison to your average runner but over longer distances.
"The events I normally do are 10k, half-marathon, marathon - so the 400m race was something I had never done before!
"My goal since I got into running and realising I was OK at it was to become a very good runner and over time I’ve become more obsessed with the sport, so for me the experience was absolutely surreal, very inspirational and a memory I will cherish forever."
It was thanks to girlfriend Megan - a fellow Shropshire Shuffler - that they were there, with the tickets a Christmas present because she is a huge fan of Hodgkinson, who had to pull out of the event through injury.
After being picked out of the audience to run the race with a 180m headstart, Declan was presented with new athletics kit to run in, while also getting to meet some legends of the sport - including Olympic champions Denise Lewis and Keely Hodgkinson.
"I literally lived the life of an elite athlete for two hours," added Declan, who builds kitchen cabinets for Anthony Lewis in Shrewsbury. "I met one of the event organisers close to where I was seated and he took me downstairs to get changed in Molly Caudery’s changing room, where there were multiple pairs of brand new Nike shoes, shorts, Keely Klassic T-shirts, jumpers, so I go told to get changed in to some of the kit.
"After this Keely came to see me to wish me luck, sign her race number for me and sign an event T-shirt.
"It felt so surreal but we had a chat for a few minutes then off I went to warm up.
"I was meant to have a 180m head start, but due to starting so well they rang the bell for the pro to start only about 50 or 60m after I had set off!"
The Shropshire Shuffler still held on to get his head over the line first and, after a post-race interview in front of the crowd, was able to celebrate further after being presented with more athletics kit and a Nike voucher.
And the feat was even more spectacular considering Johnson had only resumed running three weeks earlier after aggravating an injury at the Chester Marathon in October.
"Thank you so much to everyone at the Keely Classic for making the experience so surreal and to Keely Hodgkinson for coming to wish me good luck because she didn't have to do that," added Johnson.
