Ben Thistlewood, Leevale AC, is the Cork City Sports Athlete of the Month for December. Ben receives the award for his win in the Athletics Ireland National Novice Cross-Country Championships, held in Santry Demesne, Dublin last month.  In addition to winning the event, Ben led both his club, Leevale AC, and Cork to the respective club and county team title. Describing his tactics for the event, Ben said that he had received great advice from his Leevale coach, Donie Walsh, who advised him to bide his time and go when he felt it was right, so he held back until the final lap, where he upped the pressure on his remaining opponents, making his final, and decisive, burst for home with 400m to go.

A 27 year old medical student from Summerland, British Colombia, Canada, Ben is also PRO for UCC Athletics Club.  Ben placed 5th in both the 2012 and 2013 event, and, for the past two years, he had been aiming to win the National Novice Championship. Now that he has achieved this target, he has set his sights on the 5000m and 10000m in the World University Games, in Gwangju, South Korea (Jul 3rd-14th 2015).  The qualification standards are 14:06.00 and 29:45.00, respectively.  Ben’s PBs are 14:43.47 (Eugene, Oregon, 2011) and 31:01 (Vancouver Canada, 2012)

A medical student in UCC, Ben thanked the university for the athletic scholarship that they provide.

The Cork City Sports Athlete of the Month Award is sponsored by 96FM/C103FM, The Evening Echo and The River Lee Hotel