With the last few months being filled with a lot of mixed training after prolonged injury problems, I have struggled a little bit to write about running, when I wasn’t able to actually run myself! With the odd race being shown on telly and race results being posted online, I have found it difficult to watch what has been happening in athletics because I wanted so badly to be joining people on start lines, whether in person or virtually. But gradually, I have come to realize that running is filled with these periods of uncertainty and impatience, and it is about the way in which we react to these obstacles that determine where our next step will be. So, with this in mind, I thought I would write about one of the most challenging times I went through in terms of my running and academic career – moving to University. With many people taking this step over the past few weeks, I thought I would share my own version of how, with amazing guidance, what I thought was a scary and uncertain situation, became an amazing opportunity I will be forever grateful for. I fear I may have erred on the dramatic side with that introduction there, but it’s been a while and we’ve got to keep things spicy.
So, I’m not sure how many people know this, but I think it’s safe to say I am somewhat of a home bird. With the majority of my family living in Lincoln, the thought of moving away from home was something that slightly terrified me. But I thought to myself, ‘Abbie this will do you good to get some independence and learn how to live on your own!’ So, I packed up my bags and moved a whole 50 miles away to Loughborough University. After finally unpacking what seemed like a whole house worth of things and setting up enough fairy lights, they could be deemed a fire hazard, the infamous week of fresher’s nights out would soon begin. Now, If you have been lucky (or rather unlucky) enough to witness Abbie Donnelly after about three sips of any alcoholic drink, I’m sure it becomes very clear as to why the start of university was not the smoothest transition into a new routine. After consuming many (for me anyway) passionfruit VK’s and £4 bottles of echo falls wine, it did not take long for me to realize that this student life does not mix well with 60+ miles of running a week. The worry about having a good social life, keeping on top of a whole new world of academic work and improving as a runner became quite overwhelming. This was also coupled with quite a bad case of homesickness. So, I thought to myself, maybe uni just isn’t for me, I’ve given it a good 48 hours, what more could anyone ask for?!
With this in mind, after the first Tuesday night training session with my Loughborough coach Bill Foster, when he asked me how I’m settling in, I replied with something we have since laughed quite a lot about, I said rather seriously, “Bill, I think I’m going to go home.” Being a university coach for many years, I’m sure this response is something Bill has come to hear quite a lot of over the years, so he told me to just take one day at a time, and try to give it at least to the next Tuesday session. Rather reluctantly I agreed.
Another week passed and Bill came up to me at the end of the session to see how I was getting on and I replied in exactly the same way, “I’m sorry Bill, but I think I might go home.” Again, he told me to just give it one more week and if I really wanted to, then I could go back home. So, in ground hog day-esque style that night I walked back to halls and hoped the next week would pass quickly. When the following Tuesday came around, Bill walked up to me again at the end of the session and asked how I’m feeling. But this time I hesitated in my response, it wasn’t the straight-out classic line ‘alright everyone, I’m off home,’ this time I just said, ‘I’m not sure what to do.’ Of course, by this point Bill knew before I did that I was going to end up staying, but in true Bill style he just very casually said that I should just at least give it until the Christmas holidays, only a couple of months away. Though still a bit unsure, I agreed to this Christmas deal, wondering if I would actually make it through that long. As it turns out I only really needed one more week until everything started to change and slowly sort itself out. The chaotic routine of freshers was coming to an end and the always nerve-wrecking first days of lectures had finished. I was beginning to settle into this strange routine of uni life, where flat mates became like a second family, and the girls at training became amazing friends who I would see almost every day for either a run, weights or a coffee at BomBom (A café that makes undoubtedly the best cookies in the world- a big statement I know).
Once I had reached this turning point, my time at Loughborough became one of the best experiences of my life. The balance of nights out, training and trying to cook myself edible meals was still a bit hit or miss, and meant that in the end the vegetarian life seemed like the way to go, sadly there would be no more ‘peas a la raw chicken’ for this gal. But at the time, in the midst of so much change and adjustment, the reason for this amazing experience felt quite blurred. It is only now, when looking back over those first three years at Loughborough, it is so obviously and unconditionally clear that it was all because of the people I met along the way. Without trying to sound too much like an advertisement for Loughborough Uni, there are many people I owe a great deal of appreciation to for the time and effort they have put into helping not only myself, but so many aspiring athletes. From weights sessions where it couldn’t have been easy trying to get these very noodley arms to lift anything heavier than themselves, to drills where my right hip just refused to stretch beyond about a 30 degree angle, no stone was left unturned when helping us to try and get those small gains that might just push us further towards our running dreams. Throughout every season, from beautiful summer mornings on the track, to seemingly unworldly levels of cold and rainy grass sessions on Brockington, with Bill’s help; weeks, months and then years of sessions were put in the running bank.
Another extremely influential person who has not only shaped my running career, but my academic career too, was George Gandy. As soon as I had applied to the university, about 5 months before the first term would start, George drove my parents and I around the whole campus, stopping off at every street around the outskirts where he would explain what sessions they would do. From this one day it was clear to me that George’s enthusiasm and passion for athletics was unquestionable, as was the time he had for any athlete of any level. The biggest thank you that I owe to George however comes from the Intercounties cross country in 2019. I was in the third year of my history degree and was starting to panic about what life would look like after Uni. The worry about having enough time to train while starting a career in something I enjoy was a weight that was quickly becoming heavier as each month passed. Knowing my struggle with moving away from home, the only logical solution to me at the time, for reasons I’m yet to figure out, was deciding to join the University of San Francisco that summer for a two-year master’s programme. I think its safe to say that was never going to work out well! Anyway, while waiting for my race to start at Prestwold hall, as fate would have it, my dad ran into George who happened to mention the post-graduate programme that Loughborough athletics were offering that year. It was from this point my Loughborough journey was able to continue.
With a tremendous help from Bill, who sorted out every minute detail of the tumultuous transition from undergraduate to PhD, I was given an amazing opportunity to continue training and learning at Loughborough for another 5 years. It has probably become clearer why me and Bill laugh so much about the first part of this blog. From almost leaving uni in the first week, Bill is now stuck with me for another 5 years! My story is just one out of thousands of examples where George’s knowledge and time for others influenced people’s lives in such a positive way. To hear of his passing last week was devasting news that I’m sure has got so many people thinking about their own George stories. The athletics community has suffered a great loss, but the weight of his inspiration and devotion to the sport is something that will remain for an extremely long time. To the man who is synonymous with Loughborough athletics, we are all bleeding African Violet for George Gandy.
