Well... I started running at the age of 7. I followed my older brother down to the track as he wanted to do athletics, so i just tagged along with him and that's where i started. I joined Tipton and began racing in the under 11 age group when i was 9.

As a nipper I was lucky to have Andy Holden as my coach- he helped me progress steadily and taught me to run smart at an early age. I made English schools finals as a junior boy and won two silvers over 3000m in the intermediate groups, along with the AAA under 15 3km title and finished 2nd at the inter-counties as an under 15 (Steve Ablitt won).

After school i went to Birmingham university and moved coaches to Bud Baldaro, who was, and still is a really good friend of mine- so he persuaded me to join the brum revolution. I feel i wasted my university days with regards to my running- not through being lazy, but through not being smart.

I would often train with niggles and didn't listen to my body as i should have done- this led to stress fractures and weeks/months in the gym or pool- thinking about how stupid i was. When i was injury free, i managed to win the AAA under 23 5km title on the track and pick up my first GB vest.

After Birmingham i went to Florida State University for what should have been one/two years of further study and a chance to finally push my running on but again i just didn't get the mix right. I went out there after a 3 month lay off through injury and was not only unfit but over weight and out of shape- I went straight into the US collegiate XC racing season and basically got my arse handed to me through racing when i was unfit and carrying some extra "beef".

What i did get from my time out there though was the chance to meet some great friends and and the opportunity to see how quality athletes trained (lemon, lancashire) and that gave me an incentive to turn things around and get my arse into gear.

I returned home after a term in the states, a period in my life that was really sad and at the time soul destroying. I didn't want to turn my back on Florida state, but things just weren't working for me out there -- not because of the university, coach, or friends i had made- but because i needed to get structure in my life. I needed a year, settled, with my head down where i could in a way find myself again. So i moved into a place in England on my own, got a job and got my head down with the running - a structure that was lacking before. I went back to basics in every way possible and concentrated on just running. This bought about a change in coaches. I switched from Bud to Dave Sunderland, as i felt i really did need a new start, and a different approach.

Within a year of getting my head down and "running properly" for a change, I earned my first senior GB vest for the ekiden relays, Made the World cross country champs in Kenya, and won the AAA 10km champs on the track in my debut 10km running 28.40.

Throughout this period the one defining factor was staying injury free- it was the first time in four years i had put together an 8 month block of running with no interruptions, and i was feeling great from it.

So that brings me on to now. Well, i work full time and after working for three years in a school as a learning manager I'm now finishing off my teacher training year ready to become a P.E teacher. I find the work/ running balance sometimes hard to juggle but its cool - the structure it provides me with helps me stay disciplined when it comes to running.

I don't obviously have the same time for recovery as a full time athlete, but that's fine - i just deal with it. My morning run is done at 5.45/ 6am before work - which is tough sometimes - especially in the winter - there's nothing worse than hearing the alarm and then hearing howling wind and rain battering the window - makes you question why you do it sometimes - but then you just think of the positives - and drag your arse out.

I'm lucky to have met some great friends through the sport and i think as a whole we help each other out well. Ive moved through the age groups with many of todays top guys and been able to see how they have progressed, people like frank tickner, drapes, humphries, lancashire to name a few. Seeing them still doing the business gives me the incentive to keep pushing on.

My main aim now is to keep enjoying what I'm doing. I did an interview recently where i was asked "what are you aiming for now then" - to which i just replied "to keep smiling and having fun" -- the reporter was a bit shocked. I think when you start making predictions about major champs or certain times you put pressure on yourself - and that's when you can over cook things or become bogged down by expectation. Its nice to approach a race without limitations or set in stone targets because then you cant really lose. If you've put the hard work in -- the results will come, that's the buzz about running, its not rocket science.