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MASTERS ATHLETICS SUMMER 2014.
JOANNE PAVEY (2nd on the All Time British Ranking list
with 30:53.50) It has been very special coming back to
athletics for her.
Q: Having baby Emily must have meant a lot to her?
A:” Definitely!
I am really pleased and my husband Gavin is so supportive,
as we run together and he looks after the children (Jacob
and Emily) when I am training. We spend more family time
together, rather than other pressures like working in an office
all day.
My little one is only 8 months now. I was still actually breast
feeding till five weeks ago.'
Q: What did the race at Parliament Hill mean for her?
A: "I feel absolutely fortunate to be able to have two little
children and be 40 and still out there running on the track.
I am really thrilled about it. I am quite surprised really that I
have been able to get on the track so soon after.'
Q: At Parliament Hill Fields you had to make a definite
burst to get away from the girl who won the
last European cross country Championship Sophie
Duarte and the previous European cross country winner
for two years Fionnuala Britton was also in the race.
Durate is young but you had the experience, particularly
as Jo had been an Olympian four times?
A: “I did not know really how to play the race because, I did
not know what toll the wind would take on it.
I had in my mind what the qualifying time was (33.00) and I
did not want to take any risks not getting the time. So, I had
lap times memorised and I very much wanted to stick as
closely to those lap times as I could. I was not really sure till I
started running it would be possible with the conditions. The
crowd support was just so awesome and it helped me. That’s
motivation!"
Q: Of all the races she had done in her life, Four
Olympics. The first back in 2000. What meant most to
her of all those races?
A:"I suppose Olympic-wise my highest Olympic position was
5th in Athens (Over 5000m in 14:57.87).’ I suppose, in a
10
way, the good race was when I finished 4th in Osaka (10,000
metres in the World Championships in 32:03.31 just behind
Kara Goucher of USA- 32:2.05). It was frustrating as well as I
failed by one second or less to get a medal. Then I think
getting the European Silver" (now Gold)
Q: She was second in the Commonwealth in 2006 but
the European Silver must have been special?
A: (European 10,000 in Helsinki 2012 1 Dulce Felix (Portugal
) 31:44.75; 2 Jo Pavey (GBR) 31:49.03; 3rd Olga Skrypak
(UKR) 31:51.32)- ' I think, actually funnily enough, one of my
favourite races was my 5k PB in Brussels, just because I
think that is my best PB of all the distances I have done and
that meant a lot to me to get under 14:40 (Ivo van Damme
Memorial IAAF Golden League 14:39.96 25th of August
2006).That felt really special because I think of all the races I
have done that was the best time I have ever run”
Q: That ranked you second 'All Time' UK Rankings.
She was an English Schools under 15 Champion, and
has suffered quite a lot of injuries since then but gone
on to overcome them all. She has even run 2:28.24 for a
Marathon in London 2011. So I realised she did love
running so what were her comments about starting in
the sport?
A: “I suppose I started running more seriously when I was 14
and I was fortunate enough to win the English Schools.
When I was 14 and ran 4:27 for 1500, and I supposed that
showed that maybe I could be a runner. I did not have the
confidence in a way because I knew what the seniors were
doing and I was way off those times. “So you are young and
you will get stronger' people said, but I just could not imagine
being able to run close to 4 minutes. “How on earth can I do
that and I went away and got injured and things like that”
My husband and I went backpacking around the World.
I had worked for a physiotherapist before that, while we were
away we trained in the most inspiring locations and got really
fit and when I came back, I made the World Championships
in Athens (1997) and that was really the start of my senior
career”.
Q: Despite the pleasure you get from Athletics. Having a
break recently has probably helped?
A: "I think so. It gives you that motivation. It makes you
realise how much you love it”. “I find it quite motivating to
start from Scratch , quite interesting to go down the track and
sprint as hard as you can do, which is the pace for a lap in
order to be able to do 25 laps like that”. “Then each week
you work away at it, (lap by lap) getting quicker and quicker.
“It is exciting to see the escalation of progress. You have
good sessions and bad sessions. To start from scratch
towards being an athlete again was very motivating."
Q: You are a heroine to some athletes, who were your
idols?
A: “Obviously people like Coe, Cram and I remember
watching those athletes when I was young also people like
Liz McColgan, so gutsy to win the World Championships also
Kelly Holmes, as she was so supportive to me when I was in
the team.
She helped me through those years of my career and I
appreciate that a lot."
Since this interview : Jo has run a World Over 40 Record
of 15:04.87 5000m at the Rome Grand Prix in June, and
of course a marvellous European Gold in Zurich to add
to Commonwealth Bronze in Glasgow.