A BU lecturer has had a summer of national and international sporting achievements to celebrate.
Dr Becky Neal, Principal Lecturer in Exercise Physiology, is an elite level obstacle course racer and recently returned from the UK championships with a gold medal in the three-kilometre race.
Earlier in the summer she captained Great Britain at the European Championships in Italy in June, and at the World Championships in Costa Rica in August.
In Costa Rica she was part of the bronze medal winning British team, the first British women to win a medal in elite international competition.
Dr Neal has been competing since 2016 when she was introduced to the sport during her PhD. With a background in running and gymnastics, OCR seemed like the perfect combination. Since then, she has taken part in over 150 races across 10 countries and is now the captain of the British national team.
“The variety in obstacle sports means it’s always exciting. It continues to grow with thousands of kids taking part in ninja sport and I love to see people giving OCR a go for the first time with their friends," said Dr Neal.
"I was incredibly proud of my team for executing a flawless race and working seamlessly as a team to achieve the bronze medal at the World Championship team race in the San Jose stadium.”
When she is not climbing walls at speed and traversing monkey bars, Dr Neal’s obstacle course racing experience also plays a part in her university work.
She has carried out research into how new medical devices and wearable technology could help organisers of extreme sports events monitor the wellbeing of athletes. This includes running a study at the world’s highest obstacle course race at the foot of Mount Everest, and another in the heat of a desert in Saudi Arabia.
“Extreme sports are becoming more accessible to everyone, not just elite athletes, so my research aims to help organisers understand how to make them as safe as possible given the variety of people taking part,” Dr Neal explained.
Obstacle course racing is set to feature at the next Olympic games in Los Angeles, as a new event in the modern pentathlon. In preparation for this, Dr Neal and a group of her Sport and Exercise Science students will work with Pentathlon GB and British Obstacle Sports in her role as Head of OCR to develop and implement the sport into their training regimes and competitions.
“At some stage I would love obstacle course racing to become an Olympic sport in its own right, but in the meantime this is a really exciting opportunity for myself and the students to work with the national governing bodies to shape the future of GB’s success in an Olympic sport,” said Dr Neal.
Her next competitive race will be the Spartan five kilometre race and the 100 metre World Championships in Croatia in October, then the UK National 100 metre race at the NEC in Birmingham in December.
