17/4/2008

Local News

Injury blow is a shaker for Alex

Alex Vero.

ONE runner who wanted to take part in the London marathon in a bid to qualify for the Beijing Olympics was left disappointed because of injury.

Alex Vero, 26, of Bagshot Road in  Chobham, who was hoping to finish the marathon around 2hrs 30mins, said: “It was obviously very frustrating that I couldn’t run.

“To spend two-and-a- bit years training and for it all to come down to injury is  disappointing.”

Mr Vero, who suffered Achilles problems but went along anyway to spectate, said:  “It was horrible to watch and not being able to compete but, in a way, it had a plus side.”

For Mr Vero had the time to concentrate on a documentary he is making to explore the issue of the decline in British male long-distance runners in comparison with those in Kenya and Ethiopia, who are among some of the best in the world.

He said: “When I started the project it was because there are so few long-distance runners in this country. The documentary is focusing on comparing an Ethiopian runner with an Oxford-educated one.

“Their backgrounds can’t have been more different, but they are both decent guys. I hope the documentary will help the two as they have the talent to go to the Olympics.”

Mr Vero will be doing the marathon in Amsterdam on  October 19 and he is aiming to finish the run in two-and- a-half hours.

He added: “People can see from my experience that if things go badly it’s possible to pick themselves up again.”

First printed in: Woking News and Mail