British runner talks about the approach helped him create history at the Bislett Games and overtake Mo Farah in the record books
“I go into complete autopilot, so I don’t remember much of the race,” says George Mills. “I rely on instincts, going off internal feelings and all the experience from training and racing. That’s what I look into.”
It isn’t quite the answer I had been hoping for as I attempt to find out what it feels like to be in the very thick of a rapid 5000m race, in front of a full house, that propels an athlete to record-breaking feats. Thankfully, it turns out that the European silver medallist’s powers of recall are a little better than he perhaps initially suggested.
We are in Stockholm, but our minds are still on Oslo – specifically his run of 12:46.59 in finishing fourth at the Bislett Games that dismantled Mo Farah’s 14-year-old British record of 12.53.11. It’s almost two years to the day since Mills, whose previous 5000m best was 12:58.68 indoors, had raced over the distance for the first time ever and clocked 13:18.33. It has been quite the leap forward.
It’s also worth remembering that this slice of history wasn’t cut by staying in the middle of the pack and being dragged round, but rather the 26-year-old saw an opportunity and had the confidence to put his foot to the floor, hitting the front with around three laps to go.
“That’s the fun bit, because the chains are off,” he grins, recalling that gear change. “I like asserting myself on races.”
Our meeting has been delayed slightly by Mills’ physio appointment to tend to some tired limbs that have been tested to a different level. We should also have spoken in the immediate aftermath of his Oslo achievement but, by the time he reached AW’s position in the mixed zone, the Brighton Phoenix athlete had turned a similar shade of off-green to the racing singlet he was sporting. An interview would not have been the wisest course of action.
All of which means there has been more time to digest the performance, albeit that just 24 hours later he will test himself again, this time over 1500m, in the Swedish capital. The heavy workload is all designed to ask his body questions, to simulate the trials and tribulations of tackling another 1500m/5000m double at a major championships – his stated aim for Tokyo in September.
There are many more laps to be run before that start line is reached but the work that Mills and his coach Thomas Dreißigacker at the On Athletics Club Europe have been doing is clearly paying off.
“We work well together,” says Mills of his German mentor. “This is my fourth season with Thomas now. I came to him when I was 22 and I’m 26 now so I’ve grown up a lot in this time. I think he would probably also say that he’s learned a lot as well. I’ve come from a kid who came to him running 3:36 to now running 3:30 and 12:46 so we’ve had a lot of progression, and a lot of it’s down to his good coaching, the plan that he’s put together and the support system that we’ve built and that we have around us.”
He adds: “It’s just been a lot of basics, a lot of time living at high altitude all year and making my life a training camp, essentially. It’s consistent, high volume, and just executing the training. It’s not rocket science, just a lot of mundane work. But I think that’s how you do it. I love it. It’s my favourite thing in the world.”
The 5000m in Oslo, which had been billed as an attack on Joshua Cheptegei’s world record of 12:35.36, represented an opportunity to test just how much fruit their efforts could bear. The numbers in training had suggested everything was headed in the right direction, but some affirmation was on the wish list too.
“We targeted Oslo,” says Mills. “We knew it was going to be a world record race so it’s like: ‘Now’s the time to jump into something and really commit to a race of this pace’.”
And so it was that, as the European Indoor 3000m medalist sat in the call room, making his final mental preparations before stepping into the heat of battle, he repeated two words to himself over and over again.
“Patience and momentum” were the order of the day. It turned out that Mills would need to call on a lot of the former in the early part of the race.
“During the first 2000m, I felt awful,” he says. “I was at the back and I think it was [Nicholas] Kipkorir in front of me. He kept leaving a little bit of a gap to the group. I was aware of it and I was like: ‘I actually can’t get around him here. I’m not feeling great’.
“That can come for some reason. The first two kilometres weren’t slow – they were 2:35 ish for me at the back – so that’s still relatively quick.”
Just like the training, there’s nothing flashy about what’s required in that situation.
“I managed to just take it lap by lap,” adds Mills. “It’s just like: ‘Switch off. Just keep running, keep running, keep running’. I realised we were towards halfway, and I was like: ‘Okay, let’s move up. Let’s close this gap’, and then you just slowly build momentum.
“I think you could see that once I started to pick off a couple of people and move up positions, I grew in confidence and then that led to the move towards the front.”
That move came with roughly 1200m left to run.
“I like to be assertive, I don’t like to think of what could have been and also, at that point, I did feel the race was really slowing,” recalls Mills. “I felt: ‘I want to keep pushing. I’m starting to feel good. Now, let’s squeeze this. Let’s run for the win’.
“I wasn’t quite able to do that, but I think it’s a good place to be when you’re in a race of that calibre and you’re able to try to assert yourself and try to win the race in that style. I didn’t come away with the win, but it’s something we can build on and work towards in the future.”
There was a little bit of time to savour that feeling of a job well done – and also to reply to some congratulatory messages from Farah, the man he had just replaced as the British record-holder.
“We exchanged a couple of messages [after the 5000m],’” says Mills. “It was really nice. He just said: ‘Well done, I’m proud of you’ and I replied, saying: ‘Thanks so much. You inspired me a lot. I’ve looked up to you my whole career’.
“I still have a lot to do. He’s obviously a legend in this sport. He’s won four Olympic golds, so hopefully I could get to something like that one day. But we’ll see.”
Mills’ follow-up came in the form of two 1500m races, fifth in Stockholm with 3:32.67 and then third place at the Paris Diamond League five days later with 3:28.36. With a few questions answered, he is now to be found back living that monastic training camp lifestyle. There is still work to do and, after his debut at a global outdoor championships at last year’s Paris Olympics, another showpiece to aim for.
“These times are great, it’s great to break records, but [the World Championships in] Tokyo is where we really want to be able to perform and win a medal,” adds the former European Under-18 800m champion, who feels increasingly like he belongs at the top.
“When I stepped on to the senior stage for the first time I was like: ‘Woah, this is a high level’. But something I was always told as a kid is just be persistent and if you’re going to do something, do it properly. I’m kind of the same, just a bit more mature,” he says.
Mills has shown patience. Now the momentum is building.