The last time I spoke to Callum Elson, he sat in front of a webcam in Springfield, Massachusetts, the blue and yellow of a Leeds United flag a rare interruption from a beige vision of the usual furnishings of a college dorm. In early 2022, then a newly-minted sub-four miler,…
Tag: athletics
Athlete Interviews
A voice found – Mateiko, Chepkwony and the Antrim Coast Half
I’m sat on a bench, tall pines providing some welcome respite from the midday sun and the man to my left is extolling the virtues of Northern Ireland. Larne has a fan in the Kenyan rift valley. In 2023, Daniel Mateiko got on three flights and found himself at George…
Athlete Interviews
The one-word diary of Eliud Kipchoge
Sponsors may vary. A Coros watch on his wrist, a glucose monitor glued to his arm but for Eliud Kipchoge simple pen and paper will always prevail. On 3 March 2024, the double Olympic champion passed the red bricks of one of the world’s most iconic train stations. Four minutes…
Athlete Interviews
“Real history” beckons for Tokyo-bound Kipchoge
26.2 miles of answers. A long-awaited showdown between the marathon’s greatest exponent and an athlete already with a vice-like grip on his slipping crown. I spoke to Eliud Kipchoge in January, his modest 3 by 2m Kaptagat room the background, a prison for the ramping tension that followed his Paris…
Athlete Interviews
Phil Sesemann – on the edge of the possible
Phil Sesemann is familiar to the roads, less so to the feeling. The sun shining down, he is making his way to Cutty Sark. The six mile drag from London Bridge, strong legs have long since departed. “Emile (Cairess) called it a zero out of ten performance, which I thought…
Athlete Interviews
Phily Bowden on embracing the emotion
Phily Bowden sat down and wrote out a poster. “I’m running for England” she eagerly scribed before wrapping it up to surprise her mum. Eight years after she first turned out for Bracknell AC, the 21-year-old was representing her nation at the Home Countries International. She would go on to…
Athlete Interviews
Alex Leprêtre – the power of the club
The year is 2014. A Saturday morning in September and 21-year-old Alex Leprêtre is emitting a radiant glow. Not from the sun beaming over his head but the funnel which he’s heading down. Another outing at Oak Hill parkrun, the number one barcode in his hand and a new personal…
Athlete Interviews
Ivybridge to Ivy League – the rise of Will Battershill to steeplechase contender
Will Battershill chose to spend his end of season break getting a humbling from the best in Japan. Representing the Ivy League, the 2023 British 3000m Steeplechase champion took part in the annual Izumo Ekiden. “They have unbelievable depth. In Japan I think everyone’s a 13:40 guy and they’re so…
Athlete Interviews
Phil Norman seeks Paris tonic for Commonwealth pain
It’s been another busy day for 2021 Olympian Phil Norman. As a pole tester for Openreach, the Barnstaple resident spends his days climbing wooden poles checking for sign of rot and decay. A physically demanding role, as his profession ends so another starts. Returning home, Norman heads out for his…
Athlete Interviews
Peres Jepchirchir – New York footsteps to an Olympic defense
The 2023 women’s World Half Marathon race at the inaugural World Road Running Championships reaches its crescendo. Margaret Chelimo Kipkemboi leads as they enter the final kilometres. Her stride imperceptibly opening, it is a face of struggle that appears to stalk her. Peres Jepchirchir has won this title two times…
