REBEL with a CAUSE
Learmonth has a point to prove to UK Athletics as he chases 800m glory on the Gold Coast
HE tried working within the system. Listened to all the experts rattle on about marginal gains. Obsessively sought out the extra one per cent… while wondering if anyone was paying attention to the other 99.
When it didn’t work, when Guy Learmonth had the cheek to declare that the Emperor was clad in nothing but a confident smile, he knew there would be repercussions.
So being denied financial support from the people running athletics? Hardly a shock.
In his own words, he ‘embarrassed’ a programme responsible for producing medal winners.
And his aim on the Gold Coast is quite simple. To deliver another humiliating slap-down to the cosseted athletes placed ahead of him in the official pecking order — despite regularly finishing behind him on the track.
Learmonth, the 800metres man who stepped outside the Loughborough bubble to do things his own way, declared: ‘I was never going to get funding. Simple as that. I was part of a system — and I failed under that system.
‘For the year and a half that I was under it, I didn’t perform. I didn’t run quicker than 1.47. I got injured. They threw everything at me.
‘I moved home, did everything in the sticks — and it’s no exaggeration.
‘I had no track, no gym. Me and my dad converted his garage into a gym with some MMA mats, a speedball, a spinning bike, so we didn’t have to pay four or five quid a day to use the local gyms.
‘We do everything off natural training resources. No medical support. And I came out and ran 1.45.1. I performed above anyone’s expectations in 2017.
‘So I’ve had everything and not performed, then done it off nothing and performed at a very, very high level.
‘To me, I feel like that has embarrassed that system. That’s my belief. And I left the coach who is part of the selection panel. So…’
Learmonth reached the semifinals at last summer’s World Championships in London. He has shown steady improvement since moving home to train in a decidedly low-tech style.
Yet, when the UK Athletics funding decisions came out in November, his name wasn’t placed alongside certain rivals.
‘The English boys will be at the Commonwealths,’ he said. ‘They’re there. They’re on funding. I’ll just have to beat them again
‘It does give me an incentive. But I want to be the best, no matter what.
‘I feel like a lot of athletes are very one-dimensional. During my six years at Loughborough, I would bring a lot of different stuff to the table.
‘Is it too high-tech? Definitely. I think people put the icing on the cake before they’ve baked it.
‘I do believe the one-per-cent stuff helps. But in the group I was in, everyone was focusing on the one per cents.
‘The one-per-cent stuff was taking up six hours of your day. What about the other 99 per cent? What about the running?
‘We were doing three hours of drills and we hadn’t even done our morning run yet.
‘For an endurance athlete, you should be out the door first, do your run and then worry about the marginal gains.
‘Obviously all these things are beneficial. But you still need the core of what you do. Marginal gains are supposed to be marginal.
‘People would get obsessed with the science stuff. Running on treadmills and getting on the VO2 max.
‘An 800m runner would get on the treadmill and say: “Oh, this test says I’m going to break the world marathon record”.
‘I’m like: “You’re not. Because you’re an 800m runner who runs 1.50! You’re not going to break the marathon world record”.
‘But they get obsessed with all those tests, the fine tuning.
‘I’ll happily go on the treadmill and get hooked up, look like Bane from Batman, when I’ve run 1.43. Because getting from 1.45 to 1.43 is hard — but getting below that is incredibly hard.
‘That’s when the science comes into it — not when you’re a 1.50 athlete for the 800. Just go and run. People forget that.
‘But they are a bit obsessed with it (the science). There are a lot of coaches who run round with their iPads, film every rep and break it down.
‘Some of the sprinters I’ve seen will do a 30m rep, then sit and analyse it for 20 minutes — and only then do another rep.
‘I’m halfway through my session by the time they’ve ran one rep.
‘There is a time and a place. But the coaches are getting carried away with all this technology.
‘You need to remember the fundamentals, which is hardcore training.’
Learmonth’s regular schedule involves slogging it out along the old A1 near his home in Berwickupon-Tweed. To hear him describe it, the whole set-up looks like one of those training montages from a
Rocky film. The boxing theme continues with coach Henry Gray throwing in skipping sessions pinched from Evander Holyfield, proving that neither athlete nor mentor has a prejudice against innovation.
As for interest in other sports, well, for years now we’ve all been pestering Learmonth to have a head-to-head race with best pal Stuart Hogg. The prospect of Scotland’s flying full-back up against a genuine elite athlete is tempting, to say the least. ‘Oh, it’ll be me who is quicker,’ declared Learmonth. ‘We’re still trying to set that race set up. ‘We’ll maybe get it on at the end of the season — we need everyone to get involved. I’ll keep calling him out! We’ll run on the A1… yeah, basically, he’s bottling it! ‘Someone said he wanted to race me over 400. Why? I don’t know why anyone would even say that. I could run it backwards and still win! ‘I think a 150, Hoggy could win. Because he’s obviously very quick. Ten metres, he would have me. But who wants to see a race over ten metres? ‘We could maybe have three races, different distances, a best of three. A ten, 80 and 150. ‘I just won’t let him tackle me. He would break me in two!’