Ollie Garrod talks ahead of the upcoming World 100km championships in Berlin

AS I think it’s fair to say you have been bubbling under the GB selection radar for the last 2-3 years. The pandemic didn’t help, but you were selected for two IAU International virtual 6 hr events. How did it feel to finally be selected for a the world 100km “Proper championship race”?

OllieG It was amazing. The 15 year old Ollie wasn’t much good at soccer or other team games so I got into running and was pretty average really to start with. If you had told the 15 year old Ollie that he would be challenging for and then achieving a GB vest he would probably have laughed at you.

Training build up to Berlin 100k

AS Since Perth, after the obvious downtime, has your training changed much in the build-up to Berlin?

Ollie Generally no, but several little tweaks in the background.

I am involved with Teamhour7 and so have been benefitting from access to expertise on things like nutrition and heat training. We also had a short spell at a small training camp at altitude in Italy. I am not sure that was long enough to really benefit from the altitude, but just being around other committed ultra runners was really useful as well as being fun.

It’s hard for us to go warm weather training but I have been taking advantage of our hot summer and trying to get in lunchtime runs when I can during the week and running weekend runs in the middle of the day, which would usually be done in the early mornings. I have also been going to the gym before diving into the sauna after a session.

AS You have a reputation as a prolific racer. Has that changed at all?

Ollie Ha! I have always loved racing. To be honest, a lot of my shorter races are usually fitted in around tempo sessions and I just adapt the session to include the race. I have dialled the racing back a little and concentrated a little more on quality sessions the last few weeks.

AS Looking ahead to the World 100km Championships in Berlin are you one of these people who studies the entry lists or just concentrates on running their own race?

Ollie Yes, I have had a look at the entries. The Japanese and the USA have strong teams on paper from recent results which is no surprise. They don’t always reproduce these times when they travel half way round the world though. I am also aware that with the pandemic, there haven’t been so many racing opportunities for people, meaning there have not been the opportunities for some runners to post the times they might have been capable of.  That all makes it interesting to see who can run smart on the day.

It promises to be hot and it will come down to who can control their effort and pace in the early stages when it should be cooler, fuel well to the conditions and hopefully be strong in the last third. It’s the sort of thing Jo Murphy has got down to a fine art, running negative splits in her last two 100k’s to record really good times, so we could all learn a lot from how she approaches races.

AS Beyond Berlin do you have any plans other than Ollie just being Ollie and racing regularly?

Ollie Well, I have Great North Run pencilled in 2 weeks after the 100k and London after that in early October. Then I will race a full cross country season to help the strength along with the odd Park Runs to keep leg speed ticking over. Looking to 2023, the roads seem to be my strength. I would like to try and challenge to make the world 50km team in South Africa, but 50k has become the domain of fast marathoners moving up so may need to look at ACP and 100k again. Comrades race has always been on my bucket list so will have to see how that sits in the championship calendar and if it would fit in next year.

AS There is a definite interest in 100k as an event again. What would be your best advice to anyone wanting to either move up from marathon to 100k or for someone who is running competently at 80k plus on the trails wanting to tackle a road 100k?

Ollie 100km on the road is a great challenge for anyone. The trail runner needs to get used to tarmac obviously, and the different regular rhythm that a 100k road ultra offers.  The marathon runner has to get used to more hours on their feet, but experienced marathon runners don’t need to change too much. What they do need to look at is nutrition. In a marathon, you can often get by on a couple of gels with some water, but in a 100k, the nutritional demands are so much greater and you have to get your gut and your system used to  “chucking much more into your system over a few hours”. That can take a while to get used to while figuring out what works best for you.

AS Thanks for your time Ollie.We look forward to following your race.

Ollie Thankyou.

You can read about the Sri Chinmoy 100km race at Perth which was the trial for the world 100km Championships in Berlin HERE

The event website for the world 100km championships in Berlin is HERE

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