It’s the Salford Olympics...
Instructor with a huge social-media following makes her competitive debut in GB marathon trial tomorrow
The BBC is likely to send only a “skeleton team” to this summer’s Olympics in Tokyo due to Covid-19 restrictions, which could mean top presenters such as Gabby Logan and Clare Balding having to commentate on events from studios in Salford. Football’s European Championships could be affected similarly.
‘I am going to give it my all. I haven’t got that experience but I’ve worked my butt off for this’
For 16 of the 17 women lining up at Britain’s Olympic marathon trial tomorrow, the paths taken to reach this point have been variants on a similar theme: the runner who overcame careerthreatening injury, the veteran attempting her 16th marathon, the youngster looking to prove themselves among seniors. Elite runners doing what they have always done.
Then there is Becs Gentry, who, the day before her 35th birthday, will be taking part in the first competitive race of her life.
She never raced as a child and did not even jog as a young adult, yet now, in what would ordinarily be the twilight of most elite runners’ careers, the prize waiting at the finish line of her first race is a spot at the Olympics. Claiming it would be one of the most staggering achievements in recent British athletics history. “Dreams do come true,” she says.
Her route to the start line has been unlike any other. A sporting all-rounder at school in Worcester, she enjoyed the usual drinking and partying lifestyle at university before falling into the public relations industry and started running only in 2011 as “a release from a job that was getting me down”. Things “just spiralled from there”.
By 2015, running had become her life – not in the same way as those she will compete with tomorrow, but she was testing herself for fun over various ultra-marathon distances and trail runs.
Two initial marathon attempts in Rome and London the following year produced times just under 3½ hours, but it was only in the next phase of her life that the seed was sown that she might be good enough to take her personal running journey further when she moved to New York to become an instructor for Peloton, the online fitness platform with almost 4½million members globally.
Specialising in running and running-related strength sessions, Gentry teaches an average of five treadmill classes each week, with each one ranging from two to nine miles. Not only has it forced her to perfect the tricky task of presenting while running, it has also given her something of a celebrity status far beyond anyone she will race tomorrow. Indeed, her Instagram following is larger than any British athlete who is not a world champion. It all makes for a rather unusual training regime.
“I love the treadmill,” she says. “As an endurance runner, a lot of miles are mental. You have to get yourself through that barrier of not only pain on a physical level but also the mental battle. You have to train your brain to get to a different place.
“I get on a treadmill, key in my pace that I need to hit, put my incline between 0.5 and one to mimic air resistance outside and I sit there. I get bored, I get to an uncomfortable place and I don’t get off. That trains my mind to be as strong as my body.”
Despite her very public professional persona, Gentry says belief in her own ability as a runner “had to be pulled out of me”. The 2019 New York Marathon was the day that all changed when, lining up with the mass field, she was the first nonelite woman to finish, taking 12 minutes off her personal best to clock 2hr 37min 01sec.
That time means Olympic qualification is no pipe dream. She is ranked ninth in tomorrow’s field and the top two finishers are automatically selected for this summer’s Tokyo Games as long as they achieve the 2-29.30 qualifying standard – a significant improvement for Gentry, but not as great as the one she managed in New York.
“I’m never going to put a cap on myself and my ability,” she says. “I feel like I could definitely run 2.37 now and it would feel quite nice.
“I’m under no illusion that it’s going to be the most uncomfortable I’ve ever been but I’ve conditioned my body to get through it and I will give everything I can on the day.
“I know I’m up against some very talented runners who have a lot more experience than I do. I’m also one of the oldest runners, so perhaps I’ve got a little bit more toughness about me when it comes to life.
“I’m going to give it my all. I haven’t had that experience of race day, but I’ve worked my butt off for it as much as everybody else on that start line and I consider myself to have earned the right to be there as much as everybody else. To wear the GB kit and to run for my country would mean the world to me.”
She admits her age means these Tokyo Games are almost certainly her sole Olympic opportunity and there remains a sense of what might have been had she chosen to try racing before the eve of her 36th year. “Maybe I wouldn’t be looking at the roster for Friday thinking I’m a grandma compared to some of the girls,” she jokes.
But she does not dwell, instead believing that fate provided her unusual path to this point for a reason.
For any Peloton members worried about their regular Gentry treadmill class, she intends to return to work next week whether she has sealed her Tokyo spot or not. Then it could be race number two of her career: the Olympics.