Mile News


Nick Willis Lives, Breathes the Mile

February 05, 2015

2008 Olympic 1500m silver medalist taking on all-comers at New Balance Indoor Grand Prix Mile on Sat, Feb 7 in Boston.

By Elliott Denman, RunBlogRun.com

The way Nick Willis looks at it, the long stretch - almost all of the 2009 season and much of 2010 - that he missed with knee trouble and then surgery - was pretty much a blessing in disguise.

Sitting out high-level racing as he rehabbed gave the noted New Zealander the chance to recharge all his competitive batteries and build back the core strength that had lofted him close to the top of the global 1500m / Mile racing heap in the stretch between 2005 and 2009.

By the fall of 2010, Willis was back in peak form and has been duking it out with the global elite ever since.

He'll be 32 on the 25th of April but reckons he doesn't have the wear and tear on those precious limbs that any world class runner his age would be expected to have.

Sitting it out for that stretch, he "got to smell the roses" and realize all that he was missing while sitting on the sidelines.

And he's been better and faster once he got back to the fray.

"It may seem hard to explain to some people, but my speed keeps improving and I'm going to stay in the sport as long as it does," Willis said in a telephone interview Tuesday from his winter training base in Flagstaff, Arizona.

Continue reading at: www.runblogrun.com

Tags: nick willis (109)

Facebook Comments

Return the Mile to prominence on the American & worldwide sports and cultural landscape by elevating and celebrating the Mile to create a movement.

ELEVATE
Bring Back the Mile as the premier event in the sport, and increase interest in and media coverage of the Mile for both those who love the distance as well as the general public.

CELEBRATE
Bring Back the Mile to celebrate the storied distance and to recognize the people who made and make the Mile great and to promote Mile events and the next generation of U.S. Milers.

NATIONAL MOVEMENT
Bring Back the Mile to create a national movement for the Mile as America’s Distance,
to inspire Americans to run the Mile as part of their fitness program and to replace the 1600 meters at High School State Track & Field Meets across the country.

Become a Mile Maniac member or a BBTM sponsor today! Join us, and go Mile!

Join Us

Thanks for joining the movement and being a Mile Maniac. We'll keep you up to-date with our Mile wires as well as exclusive contests and opportunities. Help us spread the word by sharing our site and joining us on Facebook, Twitter & Instagram!