Paul Grange  

Name: Paul Grange

Born: 17/5/79

Date Joined: June 2019 

Personal Bests:

800 – 1:53.01

1500 – 3:57.41

 5k – 15:25

Mile 4:17:18

 

First Club Race: 800m at the Southern Counties Veterans league in Stevenage

Favourite Race: Westminster Mile on the road, and Hadleigh for XC.

Notable Performances: 

– Essex Champs 2021: Double Gold in the 800/1500.

– Lea Valley Dream Mile: Indoor ALL TIME British V40 record.

– Multiple time wave 1 Westminster Mile winner.

– Pulling the kids along in a 1500 at Mayesbrook, where we all ran PBs.

– Winning the Essex Road Relays for Ilford in my first year with the club.

Biggest Disappointment: Double silver in the 2018 Essex Champs 800 and 1500.

Typical Weeks Training:

Credit to Gary Floate for the most ideal track sessions for an 800m runner’s fitness zones.

– Monday: 5 miles AM easy(7min/mi)/ 5mi PM easy

– Tuesday: 5mi AM easy / Track session (eg. 800:  1:58, 600: 1:40, 400: 1:04, 200: 27, 25)

– Wednesday: 5mi AM 8min/mi / 5mi PM 6:30min/mi

– Thursday: 5mi AM 7:30min/mi / 2×(4×400) AVG 61, last lap burn-up in 55s

– Friday: 6mi AM 7:30min/mi / 4mi PM 6:30min/mi

– Saturday: AM track session or race, eg. 4×400 (54, 55, 55, 57)  /  5k tempo PM

– Sunday: Long Run 10miles with my boys.

Favourite Sessions:  3×(3×300m) very fast with lots of rest. If, at the start of the last set, it’s difficult to raise your hands above your waist … you’re doing it right! 

Who is the most Famous Athlete you Trained with or would like to train with: Trained with Steve Collins and Kevin Mitchell

How would you improve the sport:

Nationally: – free race entry for u20s into road races once 80% of a races quota has been filled 

 – I don’t agree that athletics is not encouraged enough at school level, this happens automatically if the interest is there. in order to create the interest, children that are involved with athletics clubs must be featured and showcased, making the sport look attractive to youngsters. You can take a horse to water but you can’t make it drink.

 – Locally, remove all age-group scoring for elVis races to make young people more valued by their clubs, this would also increase the standard of competition.

 – On a global scale, follow the Ingebritsen method to make athletics exciting! We need superstars and rivalries – stars like Beckham, Messi and Ronaldo have made football exciting. Athletics superstars will make running attractive. Like the coe and Ovett days when athletics made the back pages. 

Favourite Athlete or Sportsman: Roger Federer, but in athletics it’s Pierre-Ambroise Bosse

What other sports do you follow: Boxing and my sons football teams.

Best Country Visited: Thailand

Favourite Food & Drink: All spicy asian food, coconut water

Favourite TV Shows: Better Call Saul

Last Film Seen: The rise of the foot soldier

Last Book Read: Black Box Thinking (highly recommended by 800m Olympian Matt Yates)

Favourite Band/Singer: Keane

Last Album Bought or Downloaded: Keane Radio on Spotify (get with the times, ask me what my favourite podcast is!) (it’s “The Model Health Show”) don’t we listen to more podcasts nowadays?

Last Concert Attended: Never attended a concert, I’m not great around large crowds. 

Any Pets: Luna the Greyhound

What are your aims for next season: 

 – To improve on as many PBs as the opportunities arise. (it’s not about capability, it’s about availability nowadays!) This season I have improved my 200m and mile times so logically the ones in between should also be achievable. 

Tell us a Joke: Why are Scandinavians considered to be the best runners across the globe? Because they start near the Finnish line.