Latest / 360 with Katie Woolf / World Cross Country gold medalist John Bermingham from Alice Springs says he’s thrilled to win on a gruelling course dubbed “the toughest of all time”

Transcript

World Cross Country gold medalist John Bermingham from Alice Springs says he’s thrilled to win on a gruelling course dubbed “the toughest of all time” · 360 with Katie Woolf

• 0:00
  Speaker 1: Now we heard last week about the World Athletics Cross
• 0:03
  Speaker 1: Country Championships in Bathurst. Four Territorians took part, Emma Craft,
• 0:08
  Speaker 1: Mark Willitts, Joanna Bailey and John Birmingham. Now, John Birmingham
• 0:13
  Speaker 1: took out the seventy plus age group and he joins
• 0:17
  Speaker 1: me on the line right now. Good morning John, Yes.
• 0:20
  Speaker 2: Good morning Katie. Nice to speak to you.
• 0:22
  Speaker 1: It is lovely to have you on the show. John.
• 0:24
  Speaker 1: How does it feel to be a world champion cross
• 0:27
  Speaker 1: country runner?
• 0:30
  Speaker 2: I look at you know, that's a nice achievement. You know,
• 0:35
  Speaker 2: I'm always happy to win races, but especially ones that
• 0:38
  Speaker 2: are world championships. Last year you may know, I also
• 0:41
  Speaker 2: went to Finland and won a couple of world championship
• 0:43
  Speaker 2: events here too. So it's hard to say this, but
• 0:46
  Speaker 2: I think I'm getting used to it. I love it.
• 0:48
  Speaker 1: I love it, and mate, how absolutely incredible? How far
• 0:53
  Speaker 1: was the race on this occasion?
• 0:57
  Speaker 2: Our event was four kilometers? It was a two kilometer
• 1:00
  Speaker 2: lapped the course and so we ran two laps of
• 1:03
  Speaker 2: a terribly grueling course. It was but two laps for us,
• 1:06
  Speaker 2: so four kilometers yeah right?
• 1:08
  Speaker 1: So was it quite hilly?
• 1:10
  Speaker 2: Yes? Well, you know Mount Panorama. I guess a lot
• 1:14
  Speaker 2: of people know that terrain and have been there many
• 1:16
  Speaker 2: times as a very very hilly country and of course,
• 1:19
  Speaker 2: the whole idea across country this one is to make
• 1:23
  Speaker 2: the course challenging. And in terms of world championship at
• 1:26
  Speaker 2: the cross country courses, this is ranked as the toughest
• 1:29
  Speaker 2: of all time, so that we have to run that
• 1:32
  Speaker 2: course that twice. So it was tough course.
• 1:35
  Speaker 1: Wow, goodness me, and it sounds as though if it
• 1:38
  Speaker 1: was ranked the toughest course of all time, it sounds
• 1:40
  Speaker 1: like it was a good year to win.
• 1:44
  Speaker 2: Yeah. Look, it was a challenge. I don't know if
• 1:46
  Speaker 2: any if you or any of your listeners might have
• 1:49
  Speaker 2: seen the news on Saturday and night. But the course
• 1:52
  Speaker 2: was so tough that the world champions woman, the ten
• 1:56
  Speaker 2: k world record holder in the women's event, and were
• 1:59
  Speaker 2: favored to win. She was leading comfortably and just collapsed
• 2:02
  Speaker 2: thirty meters in the finish line, an indication of how
• 2:06
  Speaker 2: tough the running was.
• 2:07
  Speaker 1: Goodness mate, So John talked me through, how was your
• 2:10
  Speaker 1: race run? You know, did you get out fast or
• 2:12
  Speaker 1: were you sort of pacing yourself? How'd it go?
• 2:16
  Speaker 2: Pacing myself very much? On Friday, Katie at lunch time,
• 2:20
  Speaker 2: I went out and did a lap of the course.
• 2:22
  Speaker 2: It was that was lunchtime and temage was thirty five
• 2:26
  Speaker 2: degrees and I only jogged and I finished pretty exhausted,
• 2:30
  Speaker 2: and I was wishing I was back in our springs. Anyway,
• 2:35
  Speaker 2: I went along on Saturday and saw all the stars
• 2:38
  Speaker 2: run and I thought, oh, that doesn't look so bad.
• 2:40
  Speaker 2: And then they were very clearly you had to pace yourself.
• 2:43
  Speaker 2: You had to start off slowly and keep the energy
• 2:45
  Speaker 2: for the second lap. So yes, no, I paced myself
• 2:49
  Speaker 2: and finished pretty strongly actually, so I was quite pleased
• 2:51
  Speaker 2: how the whole event went.
• 2:53
  Speaker 1: Good on you. I'm so super impressed that we had
• 2:56
  Speaker 1: four Territori ins there. But I just think it's one
• 3:00
  Speaker 1: fall that you that you've taken out your age category.
• 3:02
  Speaker 1: John seventy plus was there. Did you have a large
• 3:06
  Speaker 1: field to race against?
• 3:08
  Speaker 2: Well? As you get hold up higher up in the
• 3:11
  Speaker 2: age group, so there's sort of less and less runners
• 3:14
  Speaker 2: that turn up at the start line. So no, the
• 3:16
  Speaker 2: field wasn't very big and and I did win quite comfortably,
• 3:21
  Speaker 2: but yeah, that was that was That was the runners
• 3:26
  Speaker 2: on the day. Yeah, there were some runners who didn't
• 3:28
  Speaker 2: turn up. I was hoping turned up from Europe. You
• 3:31
  Speaker 2: know last year when I was in Europe and I
• 3:32
  Speaker 2: raced some runners over there, but they decided not to
• 3:35
  Speaker 2: make the trip over. So in a way that's disappointing
• 3:38
  Speaker 2: because I'm really in it for competition and winning is
• 3:41
  Speaker 2: always nice on top of that. But yeah, no, it
• 3:45
  Speaker 2: was probably, Yeah, it wasn't that strong a field in
• 3:48
  Speaker 2: terms of who I was hoping to be there.
• 3:51
  Speaker 1: Oh mate, Still, you know, I think to myself, how incredible,
• 3:55
  Speaker 1: how utterly incredible. I just think it's wonderful. I run myself,
• 3:59
  Speaker 1: so I think, yeah, I think it's incredible that you've
• 4:01
  Speaker 1: done this. And then to hear how tough the you know,
• 4:04
  Speaker 1: that course is, and and just you know what you
• 4:07
  Speaker 1: said there in the women's race about one of those
• 4:11
  Speaker 1: really elite athletes then collapsing with thirty meters to go.
• 4:15
  Speaker 1: That would just be heartbreaking for her.
• 4:18
  Speaker 2: Well, it was, it was, you know, it was for
• 4:20
  Speaker 2: people watching, it was a terrible thing to look to
• 4:23
  Speaker 2: look at. You know, this best the best woman distance
• 4:26
  Speaker 2: running the world, and yeah, the course got the better
• 4:29
  Speaker 2: of it. So I don't know how she feels personally.
• 4:32
  Speaker 2: I imagine you'd be devastated. So but the course was tough.
• 4:37
  Speaker 2: And you know, runners at that level they push themselves
• 4:40
  Speaker 2: to the limit, Katie, and even runners of our level
• 4:43
  Speaker 2: sometimes push themselves to the limit. But at that level
• 4:45
  Speaker 2: why they're so good, It is because I can push
• 4:47
  Speaker 2: themselves harder and harder, and sometimes these things happen.
• 4:50
  Speaker 1: Yeah, now tell me how what kind of training did
• 4:53
  Speaker 1: you have to put in, you know, to get to
• 4:56
  Speaker 1: that point and to be able to run the way
• 4:58
  Speaker 1: that you did on the weekend.
• 5:01
  Speaker 2: Well, look, my train is a bit hard to believe,
• 5:02
  Speaker 2: and I tell people it's my training was all over
• 5:04
  Speaker 2: the place. In the last few months. I've had injuries.
• 5:07
  Speaker 2: Two and a half weeks before I probably wasn't going
• 5:12
  Speaker 2: to be able to run because I was having trouble
• 5:13
  Speaker 2: with my achilles and I was doing deep water running
• 5:16
  Speaker 2: and training in the gym on the elliptical, that elliptical machine.
• 5:20
  Speaker 2: My training has been a bit up and down. But
• 5:23
  Speaker 2: the last ten days I've got some good training in
• 5:26
  Speaker 2: And the key. The key is if you have injuries,
• 5:29
  Speaker 2: to try and keep your fitness in different ways. And
• 5:31
  Speaker 2: I was able to do that. So when I got
• 5:33
  Speaker 2: to the start line, even though it wasn't in my
• 5:35
  Speaker 2: I wouldn't have been in my best shape. I'm still
• 5:37
  Speaker 2: in pretty good shape.
• 5:39
  Speaker 1: Now, tell me like, I love this for so many reasons.
• 5:41
  Speaker 1: I love it because you are you know, because you're
• 5:43
  Speaker 1: a runner. I love watching running, I love you running myself.
• 5:47
  Speaker 1: But also because sometimes people feel that once you get
• 5:51
  Speaker 1: to a certain age you can't take part or win
• 5:54
  Speaker 1: events like this, And you've absolutely smashed the age barrier.
• 5:59
  Speaker 1: You know what is message for anybody out there thinking
• 6:01
  Speaker 1: that age is a barrier to taking part really in
• 6:05
  Speaker 1: any event.
• 6:07
  Speaker 2: Well, yeah, look, well, firstly, I love running and you've
• 6:12
  Speaker 2: said the same. So that's the key is to really
• 6:15
  Speaker 2: get yourself to a state of fitness where you can
• 6:17
  Speaker 2: run without discomfort. That's really important. But you're right, I mean,
• 6:22
  Speaker 2: Park runs every Saturday is a great way for people
• 6:24
  Speaker 2: to get into the running scene and to turn up
• 6:26
  Speaker 2: and just run along or walk and run, and eventually
• 6:30
  Speaker 2: fitness builds up and there's lots of opportunities to run
• 6:33
  Speaker 2: as you get older and participate in the sport. And
• 6:37
  Speaker 2: you know, one of the things I really love about
• 6:39
  Speaker 2: it running in a way, running comes fairly easy for me.
• 6:42
  Speaker 2: I've ran all my life, but for many people it's
• 6:45
  Speaker 2: not so easy, and I just get so much admiration
• 6:48
  Speaker 2: for people who persevere and really start to achieve things
• 6:52
  Speaker 2: in they're running. That perhaps comes a little bit harder
• 6:54
  Speaker 2: than it does for me. So yeah, look, there's lots
• 6:57
  Speaker 2: of reasons and lots of yeah good reasons to be
• 7:00
  Speaker 2: involved in it. And the opportunities are there at park run
• 7:03
  Speaker 2: level or once you get a bit fitter and fast
• 7:06
  Speaker 2: he mode, even try yourself at a higher level of competition.
• 7:09
  Speaker 1: Yeah, wonderful stuff. John. Have you got a good group
• 7:12
  Speaker 1: of runners in Alice Springs, Well.
• 7:15
  Speaker 2: Yes and no. I mean we've got a really strong
• 7:17
  Speaker 2: running club down in our Springs and our Springs Runners
• 7:19
  Speaker 2: and Running and walking club. But trail running is becoming
• 7:23
  Speaker 2: really big in our Springs. I don't know if you
• 7:25
  Speaker 2: know Larina trailer many much of the running takes place
• 7:29
  Speaker 2: on trails, which is not I was brought up a
• 7:32
  Speaker 2: track runner, so that's my that's my favorite form of running,
• 7:36
  Speaker 2: and unfortunately Alice Springs doesn't have that opportunity. But I
• 7:41
  Speaker 2: traveled to Melbourne and Darwin and you know places do
• 7:44
  Speaker 2: track running. I've got Sydney next month. That's my favorite
• 7:48
  Speaker 2: sort of running on tracks.
• 7:49
  Speaker 1: Good on you, John A. Big congratulations to you as
• 7:53
  Speaker 1: well on being the world cross country gold medalist. I
• 7:56
  Speaker 1: know that you said you've wanted a few times, but
• 7:59
  Speaker 1: absolutely wonderful to hear that you'd taken it out in
• 8:01
  Speaker 1: the seventy plus age group right in Bathurst over the
• 8:04
  Speaker 1: weekend on what sounds like was an incredibly difficult course.
• 8:10
  Speaker 2: Yes it was, and you know I forgot the mid
• 8:13
  Speaker 2: the hills that the other obviously was whether they created
• 8:15
  Speaker 2: this big mud mud pit you have to run through
• 8:18
  Speaker 2: about twenty five meters mud. And then I had another
• 8:23
  Speaker 2: feature which was called the chicane, you know, the race course,
• 8:26
  Speaker 2: so they had these tires positions, yet there zigzagg your
• 8:28
  Speaker 2: way through the tires. So there was a little extra
• 8:31
  Speaker 2: challenges too for the completing the course on top of
• 8:35
  Speaker 2: the hills and pom down.
• 8:36
  Speaker 1: So wow, yeah it was.
• 8:38
  Speaker 2: It was fun.
• 8:39
  Speaker 1: Yeah, oh how awesome. I just think it's incredible. I
• 8:42
  Speaker 1: love that you you know that you are doing this,
• 8:44
  Speaker 1: and I love like at your age and age should never.
• 8:47
  Speaker 2: Be a barrier.
• 8:47
  Speaker 1: Absolutely think this is a wonderful story. So John, thank
• 8:50
  Speaker 1: you so much for having a chat with us this morning.
• 8:54
  Speaker 2: Yeah. Thanks Katie, nice to chat to you you too.