The surprise Vitality London 10,000 winner on the clubs and people who have helped him to maintain a long-term love affair with his chosen sport
Earlier this summer Ellis Cross defeated Sir Mo Farah to win the Vitality London 10,000 and the 25-year-old puts a lot of it down to his upbringing, training regime and mindset.
Beating the four-time Olympic champion by four seconds on May 2 brought the Aldershot, Farnham & District athlete, who was then without a sponsor, overnight fame. The part-time retail assistant paid £37 to enter the elite race and subsequently sprinted his way to a surprise victory.
Cross, inspired by his mum who is fighting a benign brain tumour, was labelled – and described himself – as a “club runner”. Given that he has represented Great Britain at the European Cross Country Championships as an under-23, twice won the English National under-20 cross-country title and twice been the BUCS 5000m champion, that description sparked a debate about the meaning of the term across social media.
He has now been signed by Head Start Management so watch out for the British 10km champion over the summer.
THAT RACE IN LONDON
It’s quite a scary feeling when you’re racing Mo Farah. A lot of people have been in that same position where you’re kind of happy to be there and it’s a privilege to be in that company. I saw the opportunity [in the closing straight], though, so I took it and off the back of it I’ve tried to grab everything in front of me.
The attention it received has not just been good personally but it’s great for the sport generally. This is a sport which deserves more attention.
I have had successful results in the past. People in the running community will obviously know who I am. I’m not the person who was out on the drinks the previous night and just decided “I’m going to turn up and beat Mo Farah”. That didn’t happen. I’m someone who dedicates a lot of time to my sport.
Ellis Cross (left) (Mark Shearman)
EYES ON THE (CLUB) PRIZE
Club level athletics is where it’s at and it’s turned me into the athlete that I am today. I’m a very proud club runner. Don’t get me wrong, the bracket we class as “club runner” is of course quite large but again it’s difficult to define that.
Everyone has different goals and ideas of what means what and I took absolutely no insult in being called a club runner. I haven’t competed on the international stage for a while and I wasn’t in the elite field,…
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