Development Squad Leaders

Olatsz Bulson-Roman

Olatz is a first-year Geographer at Fitz and perfect for the role of Dev Squad co-leader!

Despite only starting to run in 2020, she has been hooked since and truly has the running bug. She has been an enthusiastic member of CUHH since Michaelmas term, racing at the 2022 Varsity Mob Match and consistently attending the organised runs and sessions. You can count on finding Olatz at Eddington Parkrun, the track (chatting), or in Sainsbury’s (running)!

You can always rely on Olatz to have extra layers (gains for heat training in a country that doesn’t really experience summer), turn up early (to be confused as to why everyone else arrives 3 minutes after the planned time) and share your love for cheese-free pizza (which is disgusting if you haven’t tasted it), meaning she is the perfect empathetic and motivating leader. Her run lengths and times continue to increase as she consistently achieves new PBs, demonstrating her admirable perseverance and dedication. She never fails to miss runs, irrespective of torrential rain or snow, and is always up for a friendly chat or a bit of motivation. Her drive to improve and support others mean that Olatz is a great leader.

As a geographer, Olatz has a wealth of grass and road routes across Cambridge, which she has accumulated from her (moderately) useless degree (when she’s not colouring in) and is the first to know of new and exciting courses (hopefully she suggest something better than 5 laps of the hill for a selection race). Being an honorary MMLer, Olatz can chat in Spanish, discuss her holiday runs along the sea in Spain (not jealous at all!) and provide much-needed post-run Spanish treats.

I am so excited to see where Olatz will take Dev Squad over the next year (both on the routes and as a concept), and I am confident she will do a fantastic job!

Julia Jakob

Julia is going to be an amazing dev squad co-leader (but not as good as me).

Initiator of the ‘slow heart rate runs’, this girl has a wealth of tricks up her sleeve to ensure good chats, injury prevention and fast times. Julia showcases encyclopaedic knowledge of the benefits, which she couples with cappuccinos and cake. Latest news is that she has a heart rate monitor to track the effects of her caffeine consumption afterward (#seriousathlete)- perhaps this is the reason she is a CUHH marathon 101 big hitter. Her enthusiasm for large miles and lots of pain is leading a Harey contingent to take on Europe, which you can ask her about on the next dev squad long run, which could take forever at that pace and marathon-like distance.

Not only is Julia easily identifiable in her flamboyant shorts (don’t stare at them for too long – it’s weird) but is all for inclusivity, giving lessons to certain Hareys on the art of hair-dying (she also wears a lot of pink to match hers). Her four-year PhD in education has lent well to sampling the nightlife, bars and gym so much Phil is getting worried. Nevertheless, Julia is up and ready at 7.20 to be your dev squad leader (or sends her apologies via Sophie if it was a ‘big night out’). Prior to Education, she did her undergrad in languages and is practising effective (but not brief) communication through her messages on the Harey chat. Despite this, who else would run Varsity track 2 weeks off marathon legs (#represent!)? Julia is for the people and with the people.

Sophie Preston

Sophie has many talents that make her a great Dev Squad leader, but perhaps most importantly, her CRSID (SCP) is *almost* the same as SJP, making her a natural point of contact for all runners. Her dabbling in orienteering will certainly result in amazing route-planning, and she promises that she will manage to lead us to a decent breakfast without too many detours. Being a NatSci, she approaches even her coffee addiction with a healthy dose of scientific interest – her research method of choice being a large-scale survey and extensive taste-testing of all cafes in Cambridge, ideally after a run. Rumour has it that Sophie is also an extremely talented and very keen swimmer (you may want to ask her about it) and has bonded with Julia over this and the fact that they both bought and strongly disliked the exact same pair of running shoes. Together with Olatz, Isabella, and Julia, she is super excited to lead Dev Squad and has many exciting plans for the year ahead!

Isabella Fitches

Isabella is a first-year MMLer (Spanish and French) at Medwards and is going to make a fantastic dev squad co-leader! 

Although a relatively new runner, what she lacks in years she makes up for in her enthusiasm and dedication. Who else would complete a tea run on an injured foot (do not try this at home)? (which turned out to be fractured unknowingly…), or turn up to Parkrun at Eddington even though it was canceled due to snow (maybe a sign of poor organisation rather than dedication)? Although, hope was not lost and a long chatty run together made up for it of course! This shows not only her adaptability, but also her perseverance – transferable skills which will lead to successful strides as dev-squad co-leader.

Fuelled by a combination of bran flakes, herbal teas and cheese-free pizza (another person with this disgusting piece of food in their diet), Isabella is incredibly dedicated to dev squad runs (even in torrential rain), and her MML degree means she can sustain top-tier chat in 3 languages on runs! Running her first ever cross-country race in Shotover 2022 (I don’t know why she came back), Isabella is a fantastic addition to any team and is a friendly face to all those eager to give XC a go. 

As Isabella was injured in Lent 2023, she is more than aware of what it takes to work back from and prevent injury, so she is a great point of contact for words of wisdom (about life as well as just injury). The only way is up and I am wholeheartedly convinced that she will make a wonderful dev-squad co-leader!