RT Interview: Todd Wakefield

posted by rtchris on March 30, 2010, 1:12am

In 2010 Todd Wakefield has emerged as an athlete to watch in the future. Not only has the 19 year-old lowered his 1500m personal best to 3.44.84, but he has also qualified for his first World Championship meeting - the 2010 World Junior Championships, which take place in Canada in July.
His win at the recent Australian Junior Championships, which lead to his ticket to Canada, was certainly no 'walk in the park' for Wakefield. There were no fewer than five athletes entering the Championships with World Junior qualifiers, so in the end he knew that a win was what he required to ensure a spot on the Australian team.
Runnerstribe discuss the Australian Juniors and much more with Todd, as we discover that he actually preferred shot put and the long jump when he first started his athletics career.

Firstly, thank-you for taking this opportunity to speak with RunnersTribe.

Secondly, congratulations on a fantastic win at the recent Australian Junior Championships in the 1500m. How does it feel to know that the result has booked you a ticket to the World Junior Championships? How did you feel when you had time to sit back and take it all in?

Yeah thanks, it feels good knowing I have a seat on the plane, with so many qualifiers it would have been a nervous wait to find out if I had done enough to be selected in the team or not. Looking back I’m glad everything I put in, and everything that my parents have also, has been rewarded with the opportunity to trip to Canada. (ed. Todd is always on the lookout for new sponsors)

It was a difficult race in Sydney – how did you approach it? What was it like knowing that there were four other athletes who had achieved World Junior qualifiers for the 1500m (Brett Robinson, Kane Grimster, Jordan Williamsz and Joshua Wright)? Is it correct in saying that your race plan went out the window early on in the race?

It was a very difficult race, with the four other qualifiers and a few other quality runners I approached the race with the tactics that I thought would allowed me to go close to winning but they were definitely thrown out the window after a nervous warm-up and an early attack by Josh Johnson. So during the race the plan was to simply be first across the line.

Making the Australian team for the World Juniors in Canada won’t be your first big trip overseas – you also went to the 2008 World Schools Cross Country Championships (where you finished 5^th behind Grimster) and the 2008 Commonwealth Youth Games in India (where you finished 5^th in the 1500m final). Do you believe that the experiences gained from these trips will assist you in handling the pressures that Canada will bring?

Definitely, those trips will come in handy and will help me deal with the pressures of the competition. The trip to India will help me with the way other nations run, in the 1500m final at Comm Youth Games there was a lot of chopping and cutting off , something that we don’t do too much of in Australia but it was a good eye opener.

What were your expectations coming into the 2010 season? Did you feel like you had a good 2009, where on paper it looked like a quiet year, with only a 3.48.58 over 1500m later in the year at the Zatopek Classic? Was the World Juniors always in the front of your mind, and did you rate yourself a good chance of making the Australian team for Canada when you sat down at the end of the 2009 season?

Even though 2009 wasn’t one of my best years, after I recovered from a long injury which had put me out of the 2009 track season, I had my best winter yet and ran well at national cross. That was followed by a few more months of solid training so I was as confident as ever that I could run as well as I wanted to in 2010 and would be up for selection for world juniors. Looking back at Zatopek I’m sure I could have run faster if I approached the race differently but that’s what its about, learning from your experiences.

You started the year with a bang, with a win at the NSW Junior Championships – running a personal best time of 3.47.59 in the process. Although it was just outside the World Junior qualifying time of 3.47.50 did the performance make you start to believe that 2010 was going to a big year? Did you feel that your training in January lead to such a good first up performance?

I was always confident that 2010 was going to be a big year for me. After a big month of training in January I lined up in the B race of the 800m at the hunter track classic and although the time wasn’t fast, it felt fantastic to be back on the track and racing again. Hunter was followed by some refinement in my training which helped me feel more relaxed on the track and this showed with the near World Junior qualifier at the NSW Juniors. When I finished the race at NSW juniors the clock actually read 3:47:33 but the photo finish showed that it was one of the AWD boys that were in the race and still had a lap to run, it was pretty annoying.

You then went onto run a personal best time of 3.44.84 in Sydney (where you were third behind Jeremy Roff, who ran 3.40.16). What was it like to be dragged along to such a good time by such a talented athlete in Roff? Did you expect to run such a big race at that time?

After running a solo 3:47 I was definitely confident I could run faster and after missing selection in the Graham Briggs Memorial field, we decided to try and run the qualifier at a Waratah Invitational meet. On race day we found out that Jeremy was trying to run fast as a lead in to the Sydney Track Classic which was a nice surprise. It's always great to be in a race with athletes of Jeremy’s caliber, he was dragged around by Dave Burne that day which was good to see him back on the track too. I was actually being paced by Ben St Lawrence to 1200m, he was more of a help then Roffy, he was far too good for me on the day.

Seven days later you were lining up in the Sydney Track Classic against the likes of Collis Birmingham and Ryan Gregson – take us through the experience? Did you feel comfortable throughout the race? What was it like being in a race where 8 guys went under 3.40.00? Although you “only” ran 3.50.84 to finish 14^th in the race (after a fall nearing the finish line), did you sit down with your coach at the end of race and go over the positives from the night?

Sydney Track Classic, that was fun. There were some fantastic performances by everyone. Ryan, Collis, Kealey and Roffy all flew that night. Unfortunately the time sheet does say 3:50, but up until 30m to go I was having the run of my life, it was just a shame I couldn’t hold it together when I hit the deck twice. Going into the race I was confident I could run another PR so I set up camp on the shoulder of Philo Saunders but with 30m to run and fellow junior Brett Robo on next to me, I fell. I actually tried one of the commando-rolls I’d perfected as a kid when playing soccer but when I got up and tried running again I just couldn’t stay on my feet. It was my own version of a Kate Smyth.

After I’d finally recovered from my deprived state Sean and I sat down and decided it was a great run, except for the last 50m when I started eating tartan. Initially I was worried that my World Junior prospects had been blown but fortunately I recovered well.

Talking about your coach, you’re currently coached by Sean Williams. How long have you been with Sean and how have you found it training with such a quality group of athletes? Now that you have made the team for Canada will your training change over the coming months? What’s your racing plan leading up to the World Juniors?

Training with Sean is great, there’s such a diverse squad so there is always someone to run with and talk to. Training with the elite guys really helps me keep pushing and striving to do better in training which is what you need. I don’t think my training will change too much leading into Canada, but approach to the competition certainly will. So far this year I have only had 5 times so I will be using the lead up to world juniors as my main season for the year which will definitely include more 800m races and a few more 15’s as well.

In terms of training, what’s your typical training week? What’s your favourite session, and do you enjoy training in a group or by yourself? Who do you look up to in your current training group?

A typical training week looks something like below, my favorite session would be one of the quicker track sessions something like 6 or eight by 400ms of 60 seconds, though I generally enjoy any sessions that leaves me on the ground after it. Someone I look up to at training, and well just about everywhere would be Sean Williams, he’s a big man, but also still loves a good workout even if he has 30 stressies in his back.

Monday: am - 60mins pm - strength, 30min easy
Tuesday: am - easy 30mins pm - track session: 6 by 1000m
Wednesday: am - 60mins pm - strength, 30min easy
Thursday: pm - 8 by 500m hill circuit
Friday: day off
Saturday: am - 6-8km tempo pm - strength, 30min easy
Sunday: am - 90mins run

You seem to be a specific 1500m track athlete, have you been training more on strength over the past 12 months (especially coming from a cross country background), or have you also been working on your 800m speed – where you currently hold a personal best of 1.52.89?

It seems that I’ve been working on my strength a lot but I think that’s where I need the most work at the moment. I had a good base and ran well at national cross then worked on speed closer to nationals during training but didn’t run too many 8’s. but coming into juniors I’ll definitely be working on my speed and racing more shorter stuff, 800m’s and maybe even a 400m if I’m lucky. I only ran the one 800m this season but I know that I can run faster than the 1:52 I ran two years ago.

In terms of your cross country background, you have had some great battled with the likes of Kevin Batt over the years. Is it nice to know that Batt will also be going to Canada (in the 5000m)? You were actually only 5 seconds behind Batt at the U/18 NSW Cross Country titles in 2008 – did those sorts of results ever make you want to race over more of the 3000m/5000m on the track, or was it always the 1500m for you? You actually broke 4 minutes for the 1500m when you were 15, did this seal it for you in terms of which event to concentrate on?

Yeah I’ve know boys like Kevin Batt, David Ricketts and Cam Page for a very long time through cross country. Kev’s the only one who still hasn’t beaten me at a national cross in all these years so its nice to have that over him. For now.

I’ve always looked at the cross season as a build up of strength and fitness for the track season but I’ve never wanted to race further than 4 laps. I don’t know why, maybe its because I can only keep rack of what lap it is by counting with my fingers and once it gets past one hand it gets a bit complicated let alone using my feet as well!

Heading to Canada what are your expectations? Is it more about placing than time, or more about learning from the experience and hoping to make it through to the final? Will it help having Robinson also competing in the 1500m at the World Juniors?

My expectations for Canada are to just enjoy the experience and learn a little more to help me with future big meets and round running. It will be great having Brett in the team and even better if we can both make the final and help each other out a bit.

In the future do you think that the 1500m will remain your most favoured event, or do you see yourself making the move up to the 5000m and maybe even the 10000m? I know that you have said in the past that the Olympics are you ultimate goal in your athletic career. Therefore are the London Olympics a little too soon for you to be representing Australia at a senior level, or is it more than just a dream?

The goal of any athlete is to make it to the Olympics in their preferred event, for me I’m sure that’ll be the 1500m, I’ve been running it for a while now and I’m still improving and loving every minute of it. I think Gregson making the World Champs last year has definitely encouraged the belief that juniors have in themselves that we aren’t too far off the older guys if we put in the work. I think it is very possible that I can be in the mix for London. What Ryan has done is prove that the younger guys can step up and compete against the older guys not just within Australia but in international competition too.

It must be great to be part of such a strong event in Australia (the 1500m). How do you rate the performances from Ryan Gregson, Jeremy Roff and Jeff Riseley of late? It must be extremely motivating to see what happens when you put your best foot forward in such a tough sport?

Ryan, Jeremy and Jeff are phenomenal athletes and are showing the rest of us what can be done. I think there is a real attitude these days with us younger runners are looking at what these guys are achieving and asking why can’t we do that? And these guys plus guys like Collis, Mitch Kealey, and even guys in other distances like Lachy Renshaw and Ben St Lawrence are really leading the way in terms of training attitudes and race results.

Well thanks again for taking the time to have a quick chat with Runnerstribe.com. We wish you all the very best in 2010, which includes the World Juniors in July. Good luck!

Thanks mate.

Read more | Comments (0) | Updated on March 30, 2010, 3:40pm