Euan aims to follow in Callum’s footsteps
Runner has some lofty ambitions
Euan Gillham has watched from afar as clubmate Callum Hawkins has taken the world by storm.
And the Kilbarchan AAC athlete admits he can’t help but be inspired by the record-breaking runs of his fellow Habbie.
Hawkins has become a household name in recent years having made the transition to marathon running despite having initially found success over shorter distances. And Gillham has already matched one of his achievements – by winning this summer’s Paisley 10k.
The 21-year-old, who previously represented Great Britain and Scotland at a host of events including the Celtic Nations International, revealed he is now hoping to step up his return and follow Hawkins on to the grandest stage.
Gillham told Express Sport: “I just want to get back in the international side having represented Great Britain in the past.
“The main aim would be to represent Scotland again and race with guys like Callum Hawkins.
“Guys like that are an inspiration to the whole club.
“Having seen the progress that he has made and the impact on the sport that he has had in Scotland, it is hard not to be inspired by that.
“Obviously, he won the Paisley 10k a couple of times and so did his brother Derek too.
“When you are young and trying to improve as much as you can, to see other guys like them going on to become a success both for Kilbarchan, Scotland and Great Britain is amazing.
“They have both gone to the Olympics and the Commonwealth Games.
“For them to come from our club shows you the amount of hard work everyone has put in.”
Gillham triumphed in the Paisley 10K last month as he came out on top in a stacked field that included a host of Scotland runners.
A field of over 2,000 runners took part but the race that was won by Gillham in a superb time of 30 minutes 46 seconds.
It marked a homecoming for Gillham, who currently splits his time between Houston and his studies in Edinburgh.
He added: “It was fantastic and a great occasion. It really was great to win it on pretty much a home course.
“I knew the course but it was also a good chance to catch up with a few of the guys that I hadn’t seen for a while.
“It was never going to be straighforward and there was a really good field there with the likes of Lachlan Oates, who reguarly competes for Great Britain.”
But it wasn’t the number of rivals in the chasing pack that made Gillham’s success all the more impressive.
Gillham revealed that he had also been battling injury for the best part of last season while studying for his exams.
He added: “I am currently studying for a chemical engineering degree so it is all about maintaining that balance between studying and running.
“At the end of the day, studying is the most important thing and sometimes I just need to take a step back.
“I had entered the World Hill Running Championships but I have had a bit of a knee injury. That combined with studying for my exams has meant that I have had to step up my training again recently.
“I had been struggling with the injury for a while. It is just a bit of tightness but I need to keep on top of it and do all the correct stretches and things like that. It takes a few weeks to get back up to speed but so far so good.
“I am also running for the uni and competing as much as I possibly can.
“There is a bit of an athletics presence here and that was part of the reason for me coming through to Edinburgh.”