Hannah England: How Kelly Holmes helped me reach the top
Hannah England ran a 1500m World Championship qualifying time in Hengelo earlier this month. Spikesmag.com caught up with the Birmingham-based athlete, who competes for Britain this weekend at the European Team Championships, to talk about the role Dame Kelly Holmes has played in her success.
Hannah England describes the first day in the company of Kelly Holmes as “quite traumatic.”
That is not to say that England’s initial experience with the double Olympic champion was unpleasant – it was simply that she was a fresh recruit on the On Camp With Kelly (OCWK) mentoring programme so had undertaken a rigorous selection day, which wasn’t pretty.
“We had to do pull-ups and bleep tests it was all horrible stuff,” says England.
She laughs at the memory now, and she can afford to – she is after all among the top female middle-distance runners in the world.
Last year she marginally missed out on selection for the Olympic Games but earlier this month recorded a personal best and a World Championships qualifying time of 4:05.87.
There are, of course, no guarantees of winning a place in the GB team for the women’s 1500m – arguably Britain’s strongest event of the moment – but her rising status is a far cry from when she first met Holmes on that nerve-racking selection day.
“I really get on with her now but
when you first meet her it’s like ‘Oh My God it’s Kelly Holmes,’” she explains.
“I remember early on in the programme she spent a whole day with us. It was the day before she was due to compete in Birmingham,” adds England.
“I thought, ‘wow, she’s supposed to be racing tomorrow, why is she with us?’ That was in July and then three weeks later she won (double) Olympic gold.
“Soon after Athens she was back with OCWK again, so we could tell she was really serious.”
England – a bright, intelligent athlete who has just completed a degree in biochemistry at Birmingham University – tapped into all that the programme offered.
She took advantage of the OCWK medical support programme – the physiotherapy and massage – and like a sponge she learned from Holmes’ vast wealth of experience and called upon the support of the other athletes who were there as part of the programme.
“No woman in Britain can match Kelly’s experience in middle-distance running,” says England, who is coached by Bud Baldaro.
“I think her advice on injuries has been of the greatest help and she is very, very passionate about the fact that we can train harder but not if we are injured, and that is a very important thing.”
Being part of the OCWK project has not been a walk in the park –
Holmes expects high standards from all her athletes. Three years ago England was selected to attend a camp in Melbourne during the Commonwealth Games and recalls how although they were based in a swanky five-start hotel, the British legend quickly brought it to a halt the luxuries on offer.
“Kelly took away our TV’s, our shampoo and we had to make do with one towel and a bar of soap,” she recalls. “We had lots of things taken off the menu and we had the same pasta and bread for dinner every time.”
Holmes’ intention was to toughen up the athletes and England laughs at the memory.
“To be honest, when you are there with the double Olympic champion you don’t want to be the one complaining,” she says. “I think the thing I missed most was the shampoo.”
Crucially, England has learned and benefited from the experience and made a big breakthrough last year. She spent 12 months studying at Florida University and during her time there she landed the 1500m title at the prestigious NCAA championships.
However, frustratingly, she just missed out on a place in the British team at the Olympic Games. She finished third at the Olympic Trials but Britain’s world junior 1500m champion Steph Twell was selected for the third and final selection spot.
Yet rather than being too downcast, England chose to dwell on the positives.
“I started out in 2008 in the States and I thought ‘do I think I can make the Olympics?’” remembers England.
“I thought, well, I’ll try as hard as I can and if I don’t make it I’ll know what to change. I actually ran the qualifying time but it made me think in future that to make the British team I’ll have to run even faster. It will make me a stronger athlete.
“It was disappointing but I had so many positives that overall I was happy with the year.”
Her personal-best of 4:05.87 in Hengelo, as well as a 800m lifetime best of 2:01.50 in Watford this season, confirms
she is in the form of her life. The future looks bright and she has the added boost of always being able to call upon the support of a very special champion.
“I’ve got Kelly’s mobile number and I can call her and text her at any time,” she adds. “I would say she is a mentor and friend – she is interested in your running and even how university is going and your life outside athletics.”
“I definitely couldn’t have run my 4:05 without the help of OCWK,” she confirms. “It helped me reach that extra level.”
'On Camp with Kelly', supported by Aviva, is Dame Kelly Holmes mentoring initiative for talented young middle distance athletes. For more info visit www.oncampwithkelly.co.uk
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