Latest News

19th May 2009

Apologies for the delay in updating you all on Andy's latest endeavours, but here's a rundown of important happenings and forthcoming events.

Andy is currently in the UK, training in and around St Mary's in Twickenham. As is usual for the British wintertime, Andy spent February and March training in Australia, both in Melbourne and at altitude in Falls Creek. Before jetting off down-under, Andy defended his 4km title in the Great Edinburgh Cross Country, with a long bid for home in the cold and windy conditions.

Once on the other side of the world, Andy got down to some tough training in the rocky ski resort of Falls Creek, joined by Australian Olympian Collis Birmingham, British International Mike Skinner and Irish International Dave Campbell. This training was to lay the groundwork for Andy's first serious career race over 5000m on the track, in the Melbourne Grand Prix. In blustery and unseasonably cold conditions on a Thursday night in Melbourne, Andy ran a huge PB of 13.20.99 to finish 2nd to a fantastic World Championship A standard by training partner Birmingham.

After Australia, preparations for the summer season continue...

1st September 2008

Andy returns from his first Olympic games pleased, but never satisfied! The 1st round in Beijing saw Andy qualify comfortably for the semi-final in a time of 3.36.47, finishing 3rd in his heat. The draw for the semi-final 48 hours later left everyone baffled, as seemingly all the main contenders (Andy included) were drawn together in the second semi. Passing 800m in 2.02, the last 700m was blistering, as Andy ran a strong last lap to finish 3rd in 3.37.47 and book his place in the Olympic Final.

In the final (at 11pm Beijing time!), Andy made a bold move with 500m to go, but couldn't hold on, and finished 9th in 3.35.37. The final had proved one race too far, as an achilles injury which had hampered Andy's training for the 3 weeks leading into Beijing took its toll.

With the inevitable post Olympics fatigue setting in, Andy is now taking the opportunity to rest and allow various niggles to recover, while he looks forward to his wedding early in October!

26th July 2008

In his last race before Beijing, Andy pushed world bronze medalist Shadrack Korir from Kenya right to the line in the Emsley Carr mile at Crystal Palace. Finishing 2nd by only 0.08s, Andy goes forward in confident mood after finishing ahead of double world champion Bernard Lagat, and Australia's Craig Mottram. The atmosphere at Crystal Palace was electric, and served as a fitting send off to the members of Team GB competing.

14th July 2008

Following successes in Oslo and Belgrade, Andy pulled on a GB vest for the European Cup 3000m in Annecy. Andy completed an early season hat-trick of wins, outsprinting European 5000m champion Jesus Espana in the last 60m. Andy's victory capped a great weekend for the GB men's team, who were overall winners on the weekend marking the last outing for the current cup format.

After Annecy, Andy opted to race the 800m at the Olympic Trials in Birmingham, aiming to add an element of speed to his ongoing preparations. With a slow first lap, Andy found himself in a sprint finish surrounded by 400/800m runners, and was pleased to emerge as the silver medalist. Following this performance, Andy was named in Team GB for Beijing.

8th June 2008

In Oslo, at 10pm on June 6th, Andy became the first Briton since Peter Elliot (in 1991) to win the prestigous dream mile in a massive personal best of 3.49.38. Despite an almost suicidal first lap (400m was passed by the pacemakers in 53.1s) Andy gradually moved through the predominantly African field, until he was within strking distance of the leaders. Passing 1500m in an official time of 3.34.36 (a new PB!), Andy came off the bend and surged into the lead, holding off his rivals with a strong finish. Watched by Steve Cram, it was a great way to finish another electrifying Bislett Games.

One week earlier, Andy's summer season started in a winning fashion, as Andy powered home to win the 800m in Belgrade's Artur Takac in a time of 1.47.38. With the sprints experiencing headwinds in excess of 4m/s, the opportunity for a faster time disappeared, but a victory against a strong field of 800m specialists was the desired outcome.

1st March 2008

The start of the IAAF World Athletics tour saw Andy get off to the best possible start with a victory in the 1500m at the Melbourne Grand Prix in 3.38.24. Poor pacemaking saw Andy in the lead with 750m to go, a position he maintained with a 55.1 second last lap to easily hold off Kenyan Bernard Kiptum, and the Australian challenge of Mitch Kealey and Brad Woods, both fresh off the back of Olympic B qualifiers in Sydney.

27th January 2008

2008 got off to a flying start with victories on consecutive weekends, 3000 miles apart. Firstly, Andy triumphed in Edinburgh over an icy 4km cross country course. The following week, the victory was over a mile indoors, at the prestigious New Balance Games in New York. A slower early pace led to Andy running a 56 second last 400m (and a 13.4 second last 109m!) to win in front of a 5000 strong crowd in a time of 3.59.2. Watch the race here.

The following Saturday saw Andy lower his 3000m PB by over 9 seconds, to finish 3rd against a stellar field in the Boston Indoor Games. His finishing time of 7.45.10 places him 3rd on the UK all time rankings. The blistering early pace (passing 1 mile in 4.05) split the strong field, with Andy finishing ahead of Commonwealth Games champion Nick Willis and his New Zealand compatriot Adrian Blincoe as well as other established 3000m runners. Read the press report here.

1st January 2008

The end of 2007 saw Andy competing over the country, starting with an outing at the National Cross Country Relays, where he came home in first place after the first leg of 5km. In order to build on this race, and gauge his winter progress, Andy entered the UK trials for the European Cross Country Championships over a muddy 10km course in Liverpool. In finishing 4th, with a strong second half of the race, Andy gained selection for the Great Britain team for the Europeans in Toro, Spain.

The race in Toro presented a different challenge, with a longer 10.7km course which included 9 tree logs to hurdle on each of the 8 laps to be navigated. Despite these obstacles, Andy came home as the top British finisher in his debut at long course international cross country, placing 11th and less than 20 seconds outside the medals.

The start of the new year sees Andy looking forward to racing over 4km at the Edinburgh Great North Cross Country, before flying to the US for indoor meetings in New York and Boston. From there, Andy will be flying to Australia to train in Melbourne.

24th September 2007

Andy finished the track season ranked number 6 in the world on merit (WAT rankings). The Brussels Golden League meeting saw Andy run 3.35.94 to place 5th in a large field of 17 of the world's best, despite the erratic pacemaking seeing the entire field pass 400m inside 56 seconds. The following weekend Andy came 7th at the prestigious World Athletics Final in Stuttgart in a time of 3.39.14, with another championship-style race leading to a blistering 52 second last lap.

30th August 2007

Andy is due to fly back to Britain today after a very successful World Championships in Osaka, Japan. Against the best in the World, Andy achieved automatic qualifying positions in both his heat and semi-final, with both races seeing him run a 53 second last lap. In the final, Andy finished 9th out of the 14 competitors, and despite the fluctuating slow early pace, ran close to his personal best to finish in a time of 3.35.95, less than a second from the medals and with a last 800m of sub 1.50.

Having achieved a place amongst the world's top 10, Andy now has his sights on Golden League competition for the end of the season. September 7th sees him racing in the world famous Weltklasse meeting in Zurich, to be followed by the Van Damme Memorial in Brussels on the 14th. Currently 5th in the World Rankings, Andy also hopes to compete in the World Athletics Tour Final in Stuttgart on the 23rd September.

7th August 2007

Andy ran the 7th fastest UK all-time 1000m to finish a close 5th in Stockholm in 2.16.99. This came 4 days after he ran 3.36.68 to finish 3rd in the 1500m at the London Grand Prix in Crystal Palace. Andy now heads to the UK Athletics holding camp in Macau before travelling to Osaka for the World Championships.

30th July 2007

At the AAA Championships and World Trials in Manchester, Andy successfully defended his 1500m title from 2006. Having won his heat on Saturday, Andy finished first in the final with a 53 second final lap, to run 3.43.25, over 2 seconds clear. Andy was rewarded with selection for the World Championships in Osaka when the Great Britain team was announced on Tuesday.

On Friday, Andy will compete over 1500m at the London Grand Prix in Crystal Palace, a race which will be followed by a trip to Stockholm for a 1000m race next Tuesday.

15th July 2007

Continued rainy conditions in Sheffield saw Andy rewrite his 1500m personal best to 3.34.74 in a world class field at the Norwich Union Grand Prix. More significant however was the fact that Andy claimed victory by a margin of over a second from 2004 Olympic silver and bronze medalists Bernard Lagat (USA) and Rui Silva (Portugal).

Watch the last 600m of the race here.

Press reports about Andy and his performance can be found by clicking on the following: The Independent, The Times, Financial Times, Press Association, and Liverpool IC.

Andy also spent time talking to young athletes at St Mary's University College, together with Craig Mottram, about his belief, his lifestyle and about racing.

30th June 2007

Having trained under the guidance of Nic Bideau for 8 weeks in Australia, setting a new 3000m PB of 7.54.74 in Sydney, Andy has opened his European summer season with several high-profile races.

The first of these saw him finish a close third behind world number one Augustine Choge and Olympic Bronze Medalist Rui Silva in a rain-soaked Norwich Union Glasgow Grand Prix. Despite the standing water in lanes one and two, Andy ran 3.37.13 to go close to his 1500m PB from 2005.

Twelve days later, Andy finished third in the world-renowned Dream Mile at the Bislett Games Golden League meeting in Oslo. Up against a world class field, and in his first ever Golden League appearance, Andy dramatically reduced his mile PB to 3.51.95 to go twelfth on the UK all-time lists. The Independent interviewed Andrew after the Oslo race.

Next came a weekend in Munich with the Great Britain team for the European Cup competition. Andy finished second behind double European Champion Mehdi Baala from France in a tactical race which saw Andy hit the front with 600m to go.

Most recently, Andy finished 1st in the BMC Grand Prix 800m at Watford. Running a PB of 1.46.32 in rainy conditions, Andy finished ahead of James McIlroy and Richard Hill in a promising first outing over the shorter distance. Full results from Watford can be found here.