interview 38


jogscotlandmagazine Summer 2011


interview Steve Cram


Former Olympic athlete andworld record breaker Steve Cramis one of the best known faces of sports.


Since retiring fromcompetitive athletics in 1984 after a glittering careerwhich spanned three decades and sawhim claimworld records in the 1500m, 2000m and onemile, he has become the face of BBC athletics and continues to inspire andmotivate runners.


His passion for running has extended to organising popular running events in brand newlocations, themost recent of which is the redspottedhanky.com Sunderland City 10k,whichwillmake its debut on Sunday 26 June.


In an exclusive interviewfor Stride, Steve shares hismemories and motivationwith jogscotties…


It’s been over a quarter of a century since you claimed your three athletics world records in a remarkable 19-day period, does it still seem like yesterday?


Very much so. Celebrating the 25th anniversary last year at a dinner in London I had the chance to enjoy the races all over again. It was a special time in my career, when Iwas at the peak of my form. I felt invincible throughout that period. The sad thing is my memories of each of the races are more from watching them back on TV than actually being in the race, which is strange.


What inspired you to start running?


I initially wanted to be a footballer. I quickly realised that maybe that wasn’t my destiny. I had been approached by the late Jimmy Hedley to join the local athletic club, when he saw me take part in a schools cross country event at the age of 11. Jimmy became my coach soon after and was a vital part of my team who assisted me right through my athletics career. Also having Brendan Foster, Charlie Spedding and Mike Mcleod living so close to where I grew up was inspiration enough for a young lad from Tyneside.


And for those who are starting out in running now, what would you say is the key to success?


It’s definitely not down to just one thing. Success is the outcome of a whole host of factors - dedication, enjoyment, self belief, work ethic, clear goals, strong guidance and coaching, the list is endless! But if I hadn’t enjoyed the sport from the early days I guess I wouldn’t have stuck at it!


As one of the presenters on the BBC series ‘Run for Glory’, you helped runners overcome the psychological barriers to running a marathon – any tips for jogscotties who are suffering pre-race nerves?


Even the best of us get nervous and still do before lining up on a race start line. As long as you can stand on the start line and know you’ve prepared as best you possibly can then there’s no need to worry at all. Have faith in all the hours spent preparing for your challenge. Don’t leave anything to chance.


Have you got any running events lined up to participate in this summer?


I started a tradition last year by competing in my own event, the Kielder Marathon. It was important for me to see the race from the inside as well as from an organiser’s perspective.With that in mind, we have our first city 10k event planned in Sunderland on Sunday 26 June and given that it starts and finishes at the home of my beloved Sunderland AFC, the Stadium of Light, I have to commit to running! Following that I’ll be planning my training around theNew York Marathon. My aim is the three hour barrier and doing that on the streets ofNY would be fantastic. As a last minute warm up before heading to the states I think I’ll do the Kielder 10k, which will be new for this year’s marathon weekend and will take place the day before the main marathon event on the Sunday.


Finally, what’s your running mantra?


Pinched from my old coach Jimmy Hedley, ‘Today is not important but every day is’. He used to tell me this regularly as a young athlete and it wasn’t until I got older did I understand exactly what he meant. It’s something I enjoy passing onto athletes of all levels nowadays!


To enter the redspottedhanky.com Sunderland City 10k, visit www.sunderlandcity10k.com. For the full interview visit the brand new online edition of Stride at www.jogscotland.org.uk.


Page 1  |  Page 2  |  Page 3  |  Page 4  |  Page 5  |  Page 6  |  Page 7  |  Page 8  |  Page 9  |  Page 10  |  Page 11  |  Page 12  |  Page 13  |  Page 14  |  Page 15  |  Page 16  |  Page 17  |  Page 18  |  Page 19  |  Page 20  |  Page 21  |  Page 22  |  Page 23  |  Page 24  |  Page 25  |  Page 26  |  Page 27  |  Page 28  |  Page 29  |  Page 30  |  Page 31  |  Page 32  |  Page 33  |  Page 34  |  Page 35  |  Page 36  |  Page 37  |  Page 38  |  Page 39  |  Page 40  |  Page 41  |  Page 42  |  Page 43  |  Page 44  |  Page 45  |  Page 46  |  Page 47  |  Page 48