Some athletes know how to push themselves, and other athletes know how to really, really push themselves.
Eloise Walker is most certainly in the latter category.
Such is her drive to succeed, she, at times, only stops when she blacks out.
The ability to push one’s body to the absolute limit is a quality few possess, but can prove invaluable in distance running.
Walker made her Commonwealth Games debut at Birmingham 2022 this year but she can remember only a portion of the evening of the 5,000m final.
Walker’s determination to perform on her Team Scotland debut was such that, on crossing the line in Birmingham’s Alexandra Stadium in 20th place, she blacked out, so she cannot recall any of the aftermath.
Thankfully, Walker has not suffered any ill effect, either physical or mental, of that night and as she prepares to make her major event comeback, in the Under-23 race at today’s European Cross-Country Championships on the outskirts of Turin in Italy, she believes she is a better athlete for her ordeal in the summer.
“Looking back, I was probably a bit silly in that it was pretty warm in Birmingham and I didn’t drink enough in the days before the final so I was on the start line of the race dehydrated,” the 21-year-old says. “After 3k, my vision started to go black and spotty and I remember my legs going so heavy. At the finish line, I’ve seen replays of Eilish [McColgan] helping me but I don’t remember any of that. It sounds quite frightening but actually, I don’t find it all that scary because I don’t remember it.
“I just ran myself into the ground and after 3k, even though I knew something was wrong, I just really wanted to finish. I didn’t want to be at the Commonwealth Games and quit.
“I’ve spoken to a sports nutritionist and now, I have much more of a game plan about how I’m going to approach things.
“I know it’s a cliche but it’s good to face a bit of adversity. It makes you appreciate the good times even more. I’m looking at what I can take from it and how I can use it to improve.”
Indeed, the past 18 months have been a rollercoaster for Walker. From a stress fracture in 2021 to a foot injury this year which led to her missing the indoor season, to the thrill of performing so well she forced her way into Scotland’s Commonwealth Games team, to her Games experience, Walker has not done things the easy way.
The Glasgow University student’s success this season was against all the odds considering her first 5,000m on the track came only two months before the Commonwealth Games.
Having always preferred the longer distances, stepping up from the 1500m was on the cards, but her immediate success was not such a foregone conclusion.
Walker has however, for quite some time, surrounded herself with world-class training partners, something that has surely contributed to her rise, as has that aforementioned warrior mentality.
Until recently, she was part of Andy Young’s lauded training group that also includes Laura Muir and Jemma Reekie while recent months have seen her move to Trevor Painter’s group, which includes Englishwoman Keely Hodgkinson.
It is, says Walker, almost impossible not to excel when in such environments.
“Seeing people like Laura and Jemma, and now Keely, and others train so hard, it does help you to be like that too,” she says.
“I think that mindset has always been in me anyway though; a session or a race might be tough, but it’s not going to kill you if you push yourself to the point of exhaustion.
“And in distance running, there’s no hiding places. You’re up against people who are so good that if you don’t find that extra one per cent, then you’re going to have 10 people ahead of you.”
Walker, who has represented GB at both the Euro and World Cross-Country Championships, is uncertain quite where her ambitions should lie in Italy today having only two cross-country races under her belt this winter.
But both today, and in looking forward to next season, she shows plenty of ambition as to how she expects herself to perform.
“I’m probably not quite as good at cross-country as I used to be but it’s so helpful for my track season so it’s always good to do. It’s difficult to set any definite targets but I feel fit and I’d like to come top 10.
“Next year, I feel like I’ve got so much scope for improvement and I have every confidence that I’ll have an even better season next year and if I’m running championships, I won’t be collapsing over the line this time.”
Walker will be in good company in Italy today with two fellow Scots also in the 40-strong GB team. Spearheading the Under-23 squad is Megan Keith, the 20-year-old from Inverness who won the Under-20 title last year in impressive fashion, with Alice Goodall, from Edinburgh, making her debut at this event , also in the Under-23 team.
British champions, Jess Warner-Judd and Emile Cairess lead the senior squads as GB attempt to replicate the good form that saw them top the medal table at the event last year, while the star attraction is likely to be Norwegian superstar Jakob Ingebrigtsen, who returns in the men’s race to defend his title.
