8 questions to Jess Warner-Judd 

Jess Warner-Judd is one of Team GB’s most enduring athletes, having been on the global circuit since Moscow 2013. Stuart Weir, our European Senior Writer, has often spoken with this exceptional athlete. I have to say that I enjoy this interview very much! 

8 questions to Jess Warner-Judd 

RunBlogRun, #1:  If your career ended tomorrow, what would be the highlight you would think back on one highlight?

Jess Warner-Judd: Probably world champs in Budapest [8^th in 31:35.38]. You always dream of coming top 10 or top 8. So yeah, I’m very happy with that.

RunBlogRun, #2: You are only 29 but seem to have been running forever.

Jess Warner-Judd: Yeah, I know. I feel like when I’m on teams now, I can’t believe I’m one of the oldest. It’s just crazy because I remember my first world champs in Moscow when I was 18, and all the people I looked up to have retired, and they’re commentating now, and it’s just crazy. So I do feel old. I feel older than 29, especially when I see 21-year-olds coming through.

RunBlogRun, #3:  How do you approach races which, realistically, you are not likely to win?

Jess Warner-Judd:  It’s a difficult one because you never want to put a limit on what you can achieve. We always say, ‘Run a truly outstanding race, and you could do this, you could do that. A good race would be this position, this time. So we have a couple of aims, but I would never actively say I can’t win this. But I think you have to be realistic and it’s one of those. If someone goes from the gun in a 10K, you have to be like, Sifan Hassan can probably do that. I can’t. I know my limit. So it’s a really difficult one because you don’t want to go in with that sort of defeatist attitude, but if you go with it and blow up, you’ll look like an idiot. It is difficult. It was even like that at Valencia [January 2024 10K], with the winner running 28:45. I can’t compete with that. I can’t run that. So it’s like I went off. I think I did a 2:50 first K. And now I was already 6 seconds behind, and it just kept growing, and she went through in 14:12 or whatever through 5K. I can’t run that. So, you have to be realistic.

RunBlogRun, #4:  You have had the most amazing range over your career; if World Athletics were to introduce a rule that you can only run one event and one type of race, what would you choose?

Jess Warner-Judd:  I don’t know. I think I love the 10K. That’s my favorite on the…