Willis: I’m turning amateur
The last time Nick Willis had a proper job he was a young man washing dishes at the local Cobb & Co in Petone while he figured out the next step in his fledgling running career.
Now, nearly two decades on, a couple of Olympic 1500 metres medals in his back pocket, the 37-year-old Michigan-based Kiwi athlete has at last got himself a real job. The beauty is it enables him to carry on dedicating himself to his running as much as, if not more, than he ever has.
‘‘I’m turning amateur,’’ announced an upbeat Willis on his social media channels yesterday as he unveiled a new role with Boston-based athletic apparel company Tracksmith as athlete experience manager.
Far from marking the end of his running career (he has been a professional since finishing up at the University of Michigan in 2005), he firmly believes this move enhances his ambition to attend a fifth Olympic Games in Tokyo next year. You might say he’s turning back the clock in order to move forward to his final frontier as one of the finest middle-distance athletes of his generation.
Willis told from his home in Ann Arbor yesterday that his new job would give him the ideal platform to make it, at 38, to the postponed Tokyo Games next year, thanks to an innovative approach taken by the up-andcoming American company.
‘‘It’s given me a new jolt, a new excitement,’’ Willis told Stuff.
‘‘It’s added another twist to this really awesome journey my running career has taken me on. Now I get to pick and choose how I want to approach it, and at the moment it’s still at the highest level to go to Tokyo and still run as many sub-4min miles as I can.’’
Willis had been in negotiations with Tracksmith even before he was thrust into the Covid-19 lockdown in New Zealand and his new job, which he’s nearly a month into, enables him to mix his company commitments with his own ambitions.
‘‘It’s a fulltime role, but I don’t have to do my running in addition to my work obligations. It’s part of that,’’ explains Willis. ‘‘My training and racing is as valuable to the company as additional work I put in. That allows me to be flexible as I pursue my ambitions.
Willis’ role with Tracksmith will be wide-ranging and one he pledges to ‘‘pour my heart and soul into’’. Essentially he’s helping to drive the company’s presence among the running community from the front of the pack.
‘‘My job as athlete experience manager is to help along people on their running journeys and provide events, programmes, content, coaching and advice along that way.’’
Tracksmith’s choice of its first two signature athletes was interesting, to say the least.
As well as the Kiwi veteran, they have employed American middle-distance athlete Mary Cain who is well known for going public with the ‘‘emotional and physical abuse’’ she suffered under the coaching of Alberto Salazar. She too has the Tokyo Games in her sights.
‘‘It’s really fun to be on this journey together with her,’’ said Willis, who was unaware of Cain’s involvement during his discussions with the company.’’