In making the award, the UK Strength and Conditioning Association (UKSCA) highlighted Dr Blagrove's contribution to the promotion of S&C in endurance sports, including:
- The publication of over 30 peer-reviewed research papers since 2018, including 20 that have progressed our understanding of how S&C can be used to enhance performance and prevent injury in endurance athletes
- The promotion of his research as a guest on 19 podcasts (cumulatively played over 50,000 times) and as an invited speaker at 12 sports medicine and S&C related conferences
- The publication of his book ‘Strength and Conditioning for Endurance Running’ in 2015
- The delivery of educational workshops and seminars at 14 different clubs, institutions, and organisations, including the European Athletics Association, Northern Ireland Institute of Sport, and England Athletics
- His work as co-Editor of the text ‘The Science and Practice of Middle and Long Distance Running’ in 2021.
Dr Blagrove has worked full-time in Higher Education since 2008, teaching S&C in three Universities. He has been Programme Leader for a BSc in Strength and Conditioning and for a MSc Strength and Conditioning, as well as leading the design of three new programmes. Further, he has contributed to the development or validation of six other S&C programmes around the UK as an external panel expert or Examiner.
More recently, he has led a project with the Royal Osteoporosis Society re-designing their S&C educational resources.
He has been a UKSCA tutor since 2013 and delivered bespoke workshops for the Association to the European Golf Tour and Ministry of Defence. He previously served as a Director of the Association (2014-16), contributing to the re-design of workshops, and leading the inception of the Research and Community Grants panel. He has also authored six articles for the UKSCA journal.
Following his award, Dr Blagrove said: "It was a huge honour to win this award and be recognised for my contribution to education and research in the field of strength and conditioning. To receive the award in the presence of founding members of the Association, fellow coaches and academics was really exciting."