TV presenter and Olympic medallist IWAN THOMAS describes his regular coastal run along the Solent near Southampton, and why it’s great to be out of the rat race. Interview: Alex Reece
My dad was in the RAF, so I’ve lived all over the place, but I mainly grew up in Cambridgeshire. Now I live half a mile from the sea in a village outside Southampton. When I finished university, I moved here to be near my coach, and I’ve stayed here ever since.
When the sun is out, Britain’s amazing, and I think Southampton is one of the nicest places. When you go down to Ocean Village Marina in the summer, you can sit outside and have a cold drink and look at all the yachts.
When I’m training for a marathon, the first and last two miles of the run I do are along the seafront, so it’s good to take it in. If you were running in London, you’d be minding the traffic and up and down the kerbs.
I’ve travelled a lot with my running. One of my favourite places is Runaway Bay on the Gold Coast in Australia. I trained there for three months one year. I think Australia has everything Britain’s got in the summer. When the sun’s out here, everyone’s happy, everyone’s more polite.
I’d love to be 10 years younger and still an athlete, if I’m honest, but I like doing live TV, because it’s the nearest thing you can get to competing in terms of replacing that buzz. No two jobs are ever the same. I enjoy it.
Although London is great, I do like being out of the rat race. I’ve got a Harley Chopper that I have converted, and that’s something I like doing, going out on my motorbike in the New Forest – it clears your head a little bit. You can just disappear from the world and chill out.
'When the sun’s out here, everyone’s happy, everyone’s more polite'
