World Junior bronze medallist, 400m hurdler Meghan Beesley is a former SPAR Outstanding Athlete of the Year and SPAR star. Read our exclusive interview with Meghan below.
What’s your next big focus at the moment?
Now everything is geared towards the Commonwealth Games. I just want to have a good block of training and then compete well there as my season’s been shortened through injuries.
How do you deal with it when you are injured?
Bodies will always heal so even though you’re a bit upset at the time it’s not vital that you do that race on that day. I just want to go and run when I can run – let it heal and it’ll be fine.
And after the Commonwealth Games, the 2012 Olympics is your ultimate goal?
Yes, it is an ultimate goal, but I’ll still be only 22, so there are two more Olympics for me after that – a lot of hurdlers are still in their 30s and they’re winning medals. I feel there’s a lot more after that and London might be the start of it.
Is it special because it’ll be in London?
It’ll be amazing. I’d love to go because you’ve got your home crowd and there will be so many GB fans around and everyone will be wanting you to win – as opposed to when you’re in another country they don’t really know who you are.
How do you deal with the pressure of performing?
I don’t really think about it. I just want to run and I want to run well. I try not to think of any other pressures or anybody else.
Are you generally trying to run a personal best or to beat a certain time or person?
There’s always somebody that you’d like to beat but I think that if you concentrate too much on that then the race doesn’t always go as well. I try and run PBs or run as fast as I can.
Do you have a mental routine or ritual before each race?
No, I don’t do anything like that. I used to do a specific warm-up – when you have ‘On your marks’ I’d do a specific thing – but since my injury this year I’ve not been able to do it and I’ve still been running well.
When you have a bad race how do you deal with it?
I just try and forget about it. I used to be annoyed when I was younger but usually there’s a reason for having a bad race. You should just think, ‘Why did I run badly?’ and try and find out why so you can change that next time.
You were a SPAR Outstanding Athlete of the Year in the past – how do you think the association with SPAR has helped you in your career?
When I won that I got tickets to the European Indoor Championships – VIP treatment. It was really beneficial going to see the European Indoor Championships because it made me want to go and compete in athletics rather than watching them – it made me more hungry to be in the team. It was really nice to be recognised as usually they’d give it [the Outstanding Athlete of the Year award] to the 100m runner or the 200m specialist.
Who inspired you to take up athletics?
It wasn’t really anyone as such; I just loved running. I’d run everywhere. If I was in the supermarket my mum would say, ‘Can you go and get me this?’ and I’d run to get it. I was nagging to go and join a running club and then I won a year’s free membership at my local club.
From there did it become a bit more serious?
No, I always just wanted to do it for the fun. I won the National Championships for the Triple Jump at 13/14, and all I was really bothered about was that the coach said that if I did this then I’d get loads of sweets – the little 10p Haribo Starmixes! That was what motivated me; I wasn’t really looking at the time. I didn’t really understand everything that was going on – I just went in and raced. Looking back, I won English Schools when I was 14 but I didn’t really think of it as the National Championships, I was just there thinking, ‘Right, I want to win this.’ I just enjoyed doing it, I enjoyed competing.
Are Haribos still your favourite treat?!
No, I’m more of a chocolate cake fan now.
Do you follow a special diet?
I think I’m quite lucky as I must have a naturally high metabolism because I do eat quite a lot of carbs and a lot of food. I eat a well-balanced diet and I do eat the good stuff but I do treat myself because that makes me feel happier! I think I’m just lucky because I’m quite young still and I’ve always been quite small, I’ve never really put on weight.
Are you told what kinds of things to eat?
No, maybe if you’ve put on a bit of weight they advise you to eat better food. We get our skin folds checked so if that went up a lot then maybe I’d be advised to eat less.
What is your favourite food?
I love Mexican food because I love the guacamole and sour cream, the nachos and the cheese and the salsa, whether it’s burritos, fajitas or tacos. I probably have it once a week at home.
What do you normally eat during the week?
I have a lot of rice, salmon, steak. I try and have a different meat every day because I like variety. I love rice salad and feta cheese.
Are you quite a good cook?
I wouldn’t say I was an amazing cook but I do try and cook every day. I do enjoy eating out but I’d rather be eating at home. There’s a really nice restaurant near my house called The Basin; it’s nice Thai food.
So you don’t feel like you’re making too many sacrifices for your sport?
No, I do what I like to do; I don’t feel like I have to stop doing anything. If you saw what I did, you’d think I was sacrificing things, but I don’t feel like I do. I don’t go out all the time and I don’t go out drinking. I don’t eat chips and I don’t eat pizza – but I don’t like them! I don’t like hot drinks like tea or coffee and I don’t like fizzy drinks.
How has studying at Loughborough changed things for you?
It’s just so much easier for training because it’s a better group, and the lectures are only five minutes’ walk from training. When I was at school I’d have to go to school and then drive to Birmingham or Loughborough, which is half an hour away and it would take up so much time.
What’s your training schedule?
At least a couple hours a day but it varies depending on the time of the year. It’s more in the winter, and in the summer because you’re competing you get more rest days. It’s quite nice in the summer; it’s more relaxing, although recently I’ve just been training because of my various injuries.
What do you do in your spare time?
I like to go shopping, to the cinema, watch TV – but when you’re at Uni that takes up a lot of the day and I’ve also got to do all my studies.
Do you find it quite hard juggling training and studying?
I’ve found this year more difficult because it was a full year, whereas next year I’m doing half of my year next year and half the year after. That will take a lot of the pressure off. I was doing 18 hours a week of lectures, plus my training, but next year it’ll be more like 10 hours.
How is your course going?
It probably could be going a little bit better but I think it’s hard to fit everything in and it’s Maths, which I find a bit difficult. Next year’s worth more so I’ll probably find it easier to motivate myself.
Is motivation to do your studies something you find hard?
Yes, because when you’re at school, you get the teachers constantly nagging you whereas at Uni you have to do it yourself. I’ve got better but I think it’s difficult to juggle everything. But I love training. If I’m annoyed about something or if I’ve had a bad race I would rather go and train. I just like doing it.
Who would you say is your athletics hero?
I think Allyson Felix [American sprinter] is amazing. I love the way she runs, and the fact that she does the 100m, 200m and 400m – a lot of people tend to not do all three. There’s Sally Gunnell as well, because she’s the national record-holder, she was World Champion, and she’s a similar build to me as well. A lot of the time hurdlers are tall – and I’m quite small. But she’s my height and it gives me the confidence that you don’t have to be tall to do 400m hurdles or to be a good athlete.
Have you met Sally Gunnell? What was she like?
Yes, it was good to meet her; she’s just a normal person. I don’t really get afraid of people like that. I just think, ‘They’re really good, I’d like to be like them.’
Have you got any specific goals for your athletics career?
Each year I give myself a target. I had a bit of a plateau year last year because I changed coaches and I came to Uni, so this year I just wanted to run fast. Next year I’ve got the U23s European Championships so I’d definitely like to get to the final at least. I’d like to get a medal.
Does it help you not to think too far ahead?
Yes, I don’t want to think too far because you don’t know where you’re going to be. If I set a goal that’s three years away I don’t know if I’ll even – well I probably will be doing the same event – but you don’t know.
Do you think you might change event?
No, I definitely will be doing 400m hurdles.
You got into hurdles by accident, didn’t you – you tried out some hurdles set up for someone else?
Yes, my heart was set on Triple Jump when I did that. I was thinking, ‘I want to be a Triple Jumper’ – but it just never worked out. At the English Schools Championships the top two go to British Schools and I was third for the Triple Jump, so I said, ‘Oh, I’m not going to get to go, let’s try another event’. It paid off and I came second.
What’s your ultimate ambition?
I’d love to win a medal at a major championship because when I did the World Juniors it was an amazing feeling to go on a podium and to get the Union Jack at the end and run around with it. I’d love to do that again, it was such a great feeling.
What do you do with your medals?
My mum has put them in a bookcase – my national medal and my European Junior medals are there. The only one I’ve got is my national medal from two weeks ago because I haven’t given it to my mum yet. It was really good to win that one because it was the first time I’d done the 400m hurdles at the nationals in two years. It was nice to go and compete – especially after my injuries – and to win a medal.
What tips would you give budding athletes?
I would say go and enjoy it; don’t think too much about pressures from other people, just go and run because you want to run. I used to not want people to see me do badly but no one really cares if you do badly. If you run well that’s when people will say, ‘Oh my God, she’s run well’. I think a lot of people do get nervous when they come into athletics and say, ‘Well, what happens if this happens...?’ But it doesn’t really matter. I know a lot of kids from when I used to train at Tamworth who were nervous all the time about racing and wouldn’t race, but you should go and race. It’s good fun.