Alex Bell’s only regret is that change did not come sooner. Less than two years have passed since she stepped away from the 800m, taking time to figure out what life would look like after losing the love for an event that brought her to an Olympics final and a personal best of 1:57.
Now Bell’s new life on the road, born entirely out of curiosity, has rekindled an excitement that disappeared long ago and leaves her questioning why the leap took so long.
On Sunday she will join Samantha Harrison as a two-pronged British attack on the start line in Copenhagen for the women’s half marathon at the World Road Running Championships, occupying that sweet spot where improvements feel inevitable because it is all so new.
The thrill is that no one yet knows just how fast she can run over 13.1 miles - or longer, with a marathon debut expected later this year - and that had long evaporated in her former event. “It’s definitely been a surprise how quickly the times have been knocking off but that’s the exciting thing for me now,” she says of “this new sport of mine.”
A half PB of 69:35, set in Dubai seven months ago, and a blistering 30:57 for 10km from Valencia in January have surprised her and it remains the sense of possibility more than specific goals that has her so motivated.
“I’m excited to race,” she adds. “I lacked that in the 800m coming towards the end of my career. I lacked the motivation to see if I can run quicker than 1:57 because deep down I probably knew that was the end for me, 1:57, the ultimate target and goal.
“With this there is more scope and landscape, so much more to tweak and learn as we go and that’s so refreshing and something I’ve lacked for a long time in track.”
Which is extra curious because Bell’s former event is the one that has captured the imagination like no other. Her departure coincided with a new era of half-miling that has made breaking the infamous 1983 world record feel imminent.
Bell’s 800m peak, her seventh place in Tokyo, was the same race in which a teenage Keely Hodgkinson announced herself to the world. Georgia Hunter Bell, Britain’s other current middle distance superstar, was a regular competitor at schools cross-country too.
Yet Bell felt no tinge of jealousy or yearning while watching them in action across the summer, while the rest of the programme holds little interest.
“When I watch 800m, the pit of my stomach, I feel so anxious,” she adds. “That proves to me I was in the wrong place for such a long time. I don’t associate that feeling now with stepping on to the start line of a road race. It’s such an amazing time and it’s so cool to see Keely and Georgia, girls I’ve competed with, this generation now blossoming.
“I can’t wait for this record to go pretty soon but I’m not envious at all. I’m glad I did what I did. I’m proud of what I did but I’m just as excited if not more for what’s to come on the roads.
“It’s the only event I do keep an eye on to see if that world record is going to go but other than that I’ve not a great interest in track and field.”
Instead she has fully bought into the roads - from scrolling her Strava to learn what other elites are doing in training to embracing its accessibility for the general population.
“Everyone knows what a 5k is but if you ask a stranger on the street or a teenager where would I go and do 800m on the track, they’ll be wondering where the local track is,” she says. “It’s so much easier to share between a professional and amateur.”
Behind the elites in Copenhagen, thousands of club runners and hobby joggers will take to the same course, each with their own reason.
“This weekend it’s sold out for the masses. Imagine inviting someone to a track and field champs? It just wouldn’t happen,” she says.
“Everyone’s so supportive. Everyone is focused on themselves, old or young. It’s so accessible and I love that. You see the streets are lined. Everyone wants a bit of it and you can’t not be inspired by it. It’s such an environment.”
The environment she will be in on Sunday seems daunting on paper. The entry list contains Agnes Ngetich, the World Cross-Country champion who has run the second and third fastest half marathons on record, alongside a number of Kenyan compatriots capable of blistering times. Ethiopia’s Tsigie Gebreselama is one to watch; so too the Slovenian Klara Lukan after she became the first European woman to break 30 minutes for the 10k in April.
For Bell, then, this is about being pulled along by the train to a quick time before knuckling down for a marathon block that will extend her limits further - even if the absence of a third Brit on the line has deprived her and Harrison of a chance to compete in the team standings.
“I know there’s so much more to give and to take,” she adds. “I’ve heard so much and seen so much about this course. I want to grab that opportunity and be in the mix with the best in the world and learn something new every time.
“This block has been a big one. Compared to the last half marathon there are telling signs I can run a lot quicker given the right day and right race and everything goes well.
“It’s a little disappointing and a shame that we’ve not got that third athlete in the British team to make it a team event because that would be something to strive for. But me and Sam will give it the best we can.”
