Tim Gray – 2^nd Highest Placed Brit in 2014 World Championships Looks forward to Chicago and Offers Some Advice to Other Wannabe GB Age Groupers

I was inspired to try and qualify for the World Championships following the 2012 Olympics. Last year was my first serious push towards qualification and I managed to get to get the Q4 position at Dambuster for the Worlds in Edmonton. Although I’d put myself up for selection, I didn’t think that I’d done enough – so when the news came through that I had, you can imagine the excitement!

In Edmonton, I managed to finish second highest Brit in my AG which meant I automatically qualified for Chicago 2015. I can remember getting the news after the race. I’d managed to finish in my target time (2.15) and had nailed one of the three all-important automatic qualification spots – there were tears, I’m not embarrassed to say! (These rules change slightly this year onwards but at least I started this season knowing that I was definitely going to Chicago) In fact, pretty much as soon as I got back from Edmonton, I started laying the foundations for Chicago with Mark’s help, following a structured training plan which I hadn’t actually done before! I set myself some clear goals for target times in each discipline over the standard distances and have been working towards these ever since with some really good results. Continue reading →