Modern Athlete Magazine Issue 166 March 2024 | Page 65

TRACK & FIELD

The OAC guys hit their watches to start another interval training session .

THE 5K GUYS

George Mills ( 24 ) Great Britain & Northern Ireland European U18 800m Champion 2016 British 1500m Champion 2020 British 1500m Indoor Champion 2020

Represented Great Britain at : World Athletics Indoor Championships European Under-23 Championships European Indoor Championships

Tom Elmer ( 26 ) Switzerland Swiss 1500m Champion ( 2019,20,21,22,23 ) Swiss Indoor 1500m Champion ( 2020,22,23 ) Swiss Indoor 3000m Champion ( 2022 )

Represented Switzerland at : World Athletics Championships Youth Olympics European Under-23 Championships European Team Championships European Cross Country Championships

I think are really top of the range . I ’ ve raced in other spikes in the past , and the current ones that ON have produced are really up there – and I think you can see that in the performances of the athletes on the track . Also , it ’ s really fun to be involved with the brand , because we do a lot of work with the spike and performance shoe development team . So , yeah , it ’ s really cool to be a part of that , and they take your feedback and you can help develop the best shoe possible .

TE : Yeah , I definitely feel like we have the best spikes out there , and as George just mentioned , they ’ re closely developed with the athletes . I think that ’ s the reason why it was possible in such a short time to create such great spikes . So yeah , I wouldn ’ t want to change spikes at the moment !

MA : My last question is on your feelings about South Africa as a training venue . Sorry , I know that you ’ ve already touched on this , but just give me your final thoughts .

South Africa is probably one of my favourite countries that I ’ ve visited , especially experiencing more of it , like going to Cape Town , and seeing a slightly different side to it .

And then with Dullstroom , like I said , it ’ s a quiet place , not much to do , so you can just focus on training , but it ’ s become a hotspot for European athletes to train in the winter months . That ’ s why there are loads of Europeans here now – French , Dutch , Finnish , Norwegian , Swedish , everything – and we almost double the town ’ s population , I think ! So , yeah , I can very much see it being part of our training schedule and routine for the rest of our careers … just with more trips to Cape Town !

In December , George and Tom flew down to Cape Town for a ‘ running holiday ’ by the sea .

Thanks to the marketing team at ON for facilitating this interview and organising the pictures . More info on ON shoes can be found at www . tifosisports . co . za .

THE 5K GUYS IN CAPE TOWN

ON Athletic Club middle distance stars George Mills and Tom Elmer call themselves ‘ The 5K Guys ,’ and have a YouTube Channel to document their journey towards the Paris 2024 Olympics , including several vids of their time training in South Africa . They made a vid of their trip to Cape Town in December , which they describe as “ reintegrating themselves into society after six weeks of social isolation in Dullstroom .” You can watch that vid right here , and you ’ ll find more of their videos at www . youtube . com /@ the5kguys .

Images : Lea Kurth / ON

TE : I think the best thing about South Africa for us is the good weather , because it makes training a lot easier , and then just being so close to nature all the time is very relaxing , and makes training feel easy and natural as well . In a way , it doesn ’ t seem forced to go and run as much as we do here in South Africa , whereas in a European city , you feel like , oh , everyone else goes to a normal office job and I go for a run twice a day . I think here you don ’ t really have this resistance of the environment . It feels normal to be out all day in nature , training and exercising .

GM : Yeah , I feel pretty much the same . It ’ s nice to come here when there ’ s great weather , whereas it ’ s obviously below-zero in Europe . It makes a big difference when you can get regular sunlight and you ’ re training in great conditions , but I also think that the locals and the people are really lovely . I ’ d say that

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