Jonathan "Jonny" Hay (born 12 February 1992) is a British middle- and

long-distance runner Long-distance running, or endurance running, is a form of continuous running over distances of at least . Physiologically, it is largely Aerobic exercise, aerobic in nature and requires endurance, stamina as well as mental strength. Within e ...

who competes in cross country,

track Track or Tracks may refer to: Routes or imprints * Ancient trackway, any track or trail whose origin is lost in antiquity * Animal track, imprints left on surfaces that an animal walks across * Desire path, a line worn by people taking the shorte ...

and

half marathon A half marathon is a road running event of —half the distance of a marathon. It is common for a half marathon event to be held concurrently with a marathon or a 5K race, using almost the same course with a late start, an early finish or shortcu ...

s. He was the bronze medallist in the 5000 m at the

2011 European Athletics Junior Championships The 21st European Athletics Junior Championships were held between 21 and 24 July 2011 in the Kadriorg Stadium in Tallinn, Estonia. Russia topped the medal table with 18 medals overall, including 8 golds, ahead of Germany and Great Britain. Men's ...

. He is a three-time participant at the

IAAF World Cross Country Championships World Athletics Cross Country Championships is the most important competition in international cross country running. Formerly held annually and organised by World Athletics (formerly the IAAF), it was inaugurated in 1973, when it replaced the Int ...

and has won age category team medals at the

European Cross Country Championships The European Cross Country Championships is an annual international cross country running competition. Organised by the European Athletic Association, it is the area championships for the region and is held in December each year. The championships ...

. He is currently sponsored by running shoe company,

Hoka One One Hoka One One (stylized as HOKA) is an athletic shoe company originating in Annecy, France that designs and markets running shoes. The brand first gained attention in the running industry by producing shoes with oversized outsoles, dubbed "maximal ...

and is coached by

Mick Woods Michael 'Mick' Woods (born 15 February 1949 in Great Britain) is a former long-distance runner and a middle/long-distance running coach. He is currently a coach at Aldershot, Farnham & District AC and sports lecturer at St Mary's University ...

Career

Early life and junior career

Hay started taking part in

running Running is a method of terrestrial locomotion allowing humans and other animals to move rapidly on foot. Running is a type of gait characterized by an aerial phase in which all feet are above the ground (though there are exceptions). This is ...

competitions at an early age and competed for

Aldershot, Farnham and District Athletics Club Aldershot, Farnham and District Athletic Club is an athletics club based in Aldershot, Hampshire, England. The club are based at the Aldershot Military Stadium in Aldershot, Hampshire. AFD competes in the Youth Development League (YDL), Hampshire ...

in 2003. He initially focused on middle-distance events and cross country. By the end of 2008 he had won the

Surrey Surrey () is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in South East England, bordering Greater London to the south west. Surrey has a large rural area, and several significant urban areas which form part of the Greater London Built-up Area. ...

cross country title and the

3000 metres The 3000 metres or 3000-metre run is a track running event, also commonly known as the "3K" or "3K run", where 7.5 laps are run around an outdoor 400 m track, or 15 laps around a 200 m indoor track. It is debated whether the 3000m shoul ...

titles at the

UK School Games The School Games (formerly known as UK School Games) is an annual sporting competition for elite school-age athletes in the United Kingdom that began in 2006. The event was based on an Olympic Games model, with multiple sports events held across a ...

and the

English Schools Championships English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ide ...

. Hay trained under the tutelage of

, a former British international runner.Jonathan Hay
Power of 10. Retrieved on 2014-12-16. Hay made his international debut for Great Britain in the 2009 season, starting with an appearance at the

2009 IAAF World Cross Country Championships 9 (nine) is the natural number following and preceding . Evolution of the Arabic digit In the beginning, various Indians wrote a digit 9 similar in shape to the modern closing question mark without the bottom dot. The Kshatrapa, Andhra and ...

in the junior race. He ran in the

1500 metres The 1500 metres or 1,500-metre run (typically pronounced 'fifteen-hundred metres') is the foremost middle distance track event in athletics. The distance has been contested at the Summer Olympics since 1896 and the World Championships in Athletic ...

at the

2009 World Youth Championships in Athletics The 2009 World Youth Championships in Athletics is the sixth edition of the IAAF World Youth Championships in Athletics. They were held at Brixen-Bressanone Sport Arena in Bressanone, Italy from 8–12 July 2009. Athletes had to be aged 16 or 1 ...

, being eliminated in the heats.Jonathan Hay
IAAF. Retrieved on 2014-12-16. At the end of the year he came 23rd in the junior race at the

2009 European Cross Country Championships The 2009 European Cross Country Championships was a continental cross country running competition that was held on 13 December 2009 near Dublin city, Fingal in Ireland. Dublin was selected as the host city in 2007 and the event was the first tim ...

. On the circuit he placed third in the junior 3000 m at the Aviva London Grand Prix and won the

Gateshead Gateshead () is a large town in northern England. It is on the River Tyne's southern bank, opposite Newcastle upon Tyne, Newcastle to which it is joined by seven bridges. The town contains the Gateshead Millennium Bridge, Millennium Bridge, Sage ...

leg of the UK Cross Challenge series. He returned to the cross country internationals the following year, improving to 62nd at the World Cross and 14th at the European Cross. That same year, he made his debut in road running at the Guernsey Easter Running Festival, winning the

10K run 1 (one, unit, unity) is a number representing a single or the only entity. 1 is also a numerical digit and represents a single unit of counting or measurement. For example, a line segment of ''unit length'' is a line segment of length 1 ...

and coming runner-up in the

. Hay represented his club at the

European Champion Clubs Cup Cross Country The European Champion Clubs Cup Cross Country is an annual cross country running competition between the European running clubs that are the reigning national champions for their country. It is often abbreviated to the name ECCC Cross Country. It i ...

in February 2011 and placed 28th for the team.Jonathan Hay
Tilastopaja. Retrieved on 2014-12-16. He claimed his first senior national title at the England Cross Country Championships two weeks later. This preceded his best outing yet at the

2011 IAAF World Cross Country Championships The 2011 IAAF World Cross Country Championships took place on March 20, 2011. The races were held at the Polideportivo Antonio Gil Hernández in Punta Umbría, Spain. Reports of the event were given for the IAAF. Preparation The Unite ...

, where he placed 39th in the junior section. At the national junior trials he won both the 1500 m and

5000 metres The 5000 metres or 5000-metre run is a common long-distance running event in track and field, approximately equivalent to or . It is one of the track events in the Olympic Games and the World Championships in Athletics, run over laps of a stan ...

. He was selected for the latter event at the

and took the bronze medal in a close finish. After winning the British junior trial event, he went on to place eighth at the 2011 European Cross Country Championships, helping Britain to the team junior gold medals alongside individual medallist Richard Goodman.

Under-23 competitions

He started the 2012 season with his first senior level success against international competition: he was runner-up to

Asbel Kiprop Asbel Kipruto Kiprop (born 30 June 1989) is a Kenyan middle-distance runner, who specialises in the 1500 metres. He was awarded the 1500 m gold medal at the 2008 Summer Olympics after the original winner, Rashid Ramzi, tested positive for ...

at the

Great Edinburgh Cross Country The Great Edinburgh International Cross Country was an annual cross country running competition that took place every January in Edinburgh, Scotland. It was one of the competitions in the Great Run series of athletics events and was held alongs ...

, defeating Olympic medallists

Eliud Kipchoge Eliud Kipchoge ( ; born 5 November 1984) is a Kenyan long-distance runner who competes in the marathon and formerly specialized at the 5000 metre distance. Widely regarded as the greatest marathon runner of all time, he is the 2016 and 2020 ...

and

Kenenisa Bekele Kenenisa Bekele ( om, Qananiisaa baqqalaa; am, ቀነኒሳ በቀለ; born 13 June 1982) is an Ethiopian long-distance runner. He was the world record holder in both the 5000-metre and 10000-metre from 2004 (5,000m) and 2005 (10,000m) unti ...

in the process. He started studying chemistry at the

University of Birmingham , mottoeng = Through efforts to heights , established = 1825 – Birmingham School of Medicine and Surgery1836 – Birmingham Royal School of Medicine and Surgery1843 – Queen's College1875 – Mason Science College1898 – Mason Univers ...

and proved himself in student competition with a win at the BUCS Cross Country. He retained his English cross country title shortly after. Hay was the winner of the 1500 m at the UK under-23 Championships, but a week later he didn't make it past the heats of that event at the British Olympic Trials for the

2012 London Olympics The 2012 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the XXX Olympiad and also known as London 2012) was an international multi-sport event held from 27 July to 12 August 2012 in London, England, United Kingdom. The first event, the ...

. He took to the roads at the end of the year instead, coming third at the

Great Yorkshire Run The Great Yorkshire Run is an annual 10K run road race previously held in September in Sheffield City Centre, England, and now held in July in Harrogate, North Yorkshire. It is a part of the Great Run series of events, and as such is linked with ...

and 16th at the

Great North Run The Great North Run (branded the Simplyhealth Great North Run for sponsorship purposes) is the largest half marathon in the world, taking place annually in North East England each September. Participants run between Newcastle upon Tyne and Sou ...

. Hay mainly competed in

British Milers Club British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories, and Crown Dependencies. ** Britishness, the British identity and common culture * British English, ...

meetings in 2013, although he did manage sixth in the 5000 m at that year's

British Athletics Championships The British Athletics Championships is the premier national championship in track and field held in the United Kingdom, and are organised by British Athletics. The event has doubled as the main trials meet for international team selection for maj ...

as well as twelfth place and team gold in the under-23 section of the

2013 European Cross Country Championships The 2013 European Cross Country Championships was the 20th edition of the cross country running competition for European athletes which was held in Belgrade, Serbia, on 8 December 2013. The senior individual winners were Alemayehu Bezabeh of Spain ...

. He struggled to transition into the senior ranks on the track the following year, coming 15th nationally in the 5000 m despite winning the British under-23 title. He placed within the top ten at the Great North Run. He returned to the European Under-23 Cross Country race and managed fourth place – Britain's best performer – and led the British to the team silver medals behind Russia.U23 Men Final - Sun, Dec 14 10:16
European Athletics. Retrieved on 2014-12-14.

National titles

* English Cross Country Championships Junior: 2011, 2012 * English Cross Country Championships Senior: 2016

International competitions

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Hay, Jonathan 1992 births Living people English male long-distance runners English male middle-distance runners Alumni of the University of Birmingham