Ross Murray - Under the Spotlight!
Lee Morgan writes….
As most of us who follow world class athletics will know, middle and long distance events are nowadays inevitably won by athletes from African nations. As the 2012 Olympics approach, concerns are continually being raised about Great Britain’s inability to produce athletes to challenge the very best and reproduce athletes of the calibre of Coe, Ovett and Cram.
Among a number of young athletes who are looking to break this stronghold and become part of the new wave of top British middle distance runners is former Wallsend Harrier, Ross Murray.
Ross became a member of Wallsend Harriers in 2000 at the age of 10 when the junior section at Wallsend was enjoying a successful spell under the guidance of Tom Morgan and Barry Allsopp. It was the values and traditions that he learnt at Wallsend, that persuaded Ross to continue his career when the Wallsend junior section eventually disbanded, and he joined Gateshead Harriers. He has since went on to gain National honours and establish himself as one of the best Junior middle distance runners in Europe - not bad for a lad from Battle Hill!
I recently caught up with Ross and asked him a few questions about his success, his Wallsend roots and his impending breakthrough into the Senior ranks.
LM: When did you join Wallsend Harriers and how did you find things at first?
RM: I joined Wallsend when I was 10. I remember when I first arrived the coach (Tom Morgan) gave me a little talking to before we started. He said that whilst your here to have fun, it’s about hard work too! It was good that happened as it made me behave haha! I actually got a chest infection just after so didn’t go for around 6 weeks but as soon as I was better I started again and really got into it.
LM: What made you start running?
RM: I always enjoyed running when I was at primary school, I ran in a race when I was about 7 or 8 but didn’t take it up then. I remember competing for the school when I was roughly 10 and doing quite well in a race at Gateshead Stadium. I think it might have been the county schools championships. I hadn’t done any training and thought, ‘I’m not too bad at this’ I thought I may as well go to a club and see how good I really was and how much better I could get.
LM: Who are your running heroes?
RM: Well there are the usual British greats like Cram, Coe and Ovett who were awesome, but I really like the runners who are great characters too. I think John Walker was quality and I think Nick Willis is a fantastic runner. Over the longer distances I think Steve Prefontaine was fantastic, as well as Dave Moorcroft. In recent years I think Craig Mottram is a great character and it was also inspiring to see Dathan Ritzenhein and Matt Tegenkamp of the USA run under 13mins for 5000m
LM: What was your biggest achievement while at Wallsend?
RM: I was only young at the time but my biggest race was the Inter Counties at Nottingham as an under-13. I came just outside the top 100 but I wasn’t happy as I thought I should have finished a lot higher.
LM: Any memories of Wallsend Harriers from the old days?
RM: I think one of the best things for me at Wallsend were the friends I made. We had a really good close knit group of about four of us who hung around together, not just at the club but outside the club too. We stayed really good friends until I was about 14 or 15, then as they were a bit older they started going out and I was just too young haha! I see them now and again now and it’s always nice to have a catch up.
LM: What would you say is your biggest/proudest achievement so far?
RM: Either running 3:43 for 1500m or finishing 6th at the European Under-20 Championships. Although I am gutted to finish 6th as I was 0.16secs away from 3rd. It’s still, if I were to look at it objectively, the best achievement. Same again with 3:43 really, If I hadn’t of got injured in the summer I think I could of possibly ran low 3:42, but got to get on with it, not moan too much, haha!!!
LM: What is your average training week (winter season)?
RM: Last winter I was running around 50 miles a week. That would include my runs, two sessions and maybe a tempo. I started going in the gym for a little and doing some lifting but it didn’t last as long as I’d hoped. This winter I’ve really tried to step it up, I’ve been trying to run around 65miles a week and that includes sessions, a tempo run and I’ve started doing circuits regularly, weights and drills, although I have been ill twice which has meant I have not had as much training as I’d have liked.
LM: Who would say have been big influences on your career?
RM: Whilst you have your heroes/idols who you look up to and aim to be as good as or better than, the people who influence you are those who have helped you, so that would be my family for their help over the years, i.e. buying kit for me when I was younger, getting me to races those sort of things. Then you have the people who have helped you within training, so to go through chronologically my primary school teacher Dave Graham who initially got me involved in athletics, Tom Morgan, my first coach at Wallsend and John Stephenson who coached me at Gateshead and still coaches me now, and now my coach at St Mary’s, Craig Winrow, although I’ve only been here a short while I’m sure he can help me develop my athletics career.
LM: Aspirations for the future?
RM: I have the trials for the European Cross Country Championships in Liverpool in November. If I hadn’t have kept getting ill I would have been looking to win this then go on to get a medal at the European Cross Country Champs. We’ll have to see but I’m still confident. Looking towards the track season in 2010 there are no major age group championships for me so I’m hoping for a good years progression across all distances. I believe that if I can get a good winter in with no injuries and if my training goes as well as I hope it does then I will be aiming to run under 3:40mins for 1500m. If I could run 3:39 it would be a great feeling. Just being able to say you run 3:30something sounds a lot quicker than 3:40something! I would imagine the major race of the year would be the senior men’s AAAs in Birmingham so I’ll just make sure I go in with a good race head and give it 110%!
LM: Have there been setbacks you have had to overcome?
RM: I suppose like most athletes I’ve had setbacks whether it been physically or mentally but I think the most important thing is that you come out of it a better athlete. If you come out mentally or physically stronger then you have to try and take this as a positive thing, although sometimes if things aren’t going your way it can be difficult.
LM: Finally, I heard that you were happy to beat Steve O’Gara’s Wallsend 1500m club record of 3.45.3, is this true???
RM: (Laughs) Good question! Just to beat SOG is good!!!! He is a funny bloke and always good to chat to and if I remember correctly he always used to have a bit banter about him having a better 1500m PB than me, but I’m sure he’ll still be going on about how he has a better 3000m pb now!
Ross’s PB’s:
800m – 1.50.69
1500m – 3.43.93
3000m – 8.21.75
10k – 32.28 (aged 18)
I’m sure I speak on behalf of everyone when I wish Ross all the best for the future, a nice lad who has his feet on the ground and is blessed with an incredible amount of natural talent. Ross can often be seen training around the Rising Sun tracks on a Sunday and I’m sure would say hello to any Wallsend Harrier he sees on his travels. I would also like to thank Ross for the taking time out to chat to us.
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