Twelve Questions with…… Nick Young.

2 Which club races have you won?
I have won two club races, 7km at Heybridge in 2013 and 5km at Cooee in 2015. I haven’t won in over 100 starts since!

3 Running tips
Listen to your body, don’t overtrain and take a break occasionally. Do your long runs slowly and running hills will get you fit. It’s meant to be fun, so enjoy it.

4 Longest distance you have run
I guess that my longest run is 14 080 km as I recently finished Run Down Under, a virtual run around Australia. My longest individual runs have been marathons. I have done five.

5 Do you have a training partner/group?
I sometimes run with the Sole Mates group in Burnie, but I’ll run with pretty much anyone around my pace and ability. Sven and Karina Mason and I have run together a lot over the last 7 or 8 years.

6 Your favourite local places to run
I run the Ulverstone pathway a lot, but I do like to run on grass and train on the East Ulverstone football ground a bit.

7 Do you have a post ISO running goal?
Post ISO I would like to get to 200 club runs without breaking down! I will keep running as long as I am able to, and would like to do a bit more coaching as well.

8 Other interests/sports
I don’t currently compete in any other sports but like cycling and swimming.

9 Most memorable running experience
My most memorable running experience would have to be finishing my first Point to Pinnacle in a blizzard. I was totally underprepared for the conditions and it was below freezing, with howling wind and sleet for the last 3 km. I was shivering so much I couldn’t get my bag open to get dry clothes out. Luckily someone helped me and lent me a warm jacket otherwise I would have been in real trouble. And yes, I went back and ran it again!

10 When did you start running and what inspired you to start?
I started running in 2010. I hadn’t run competitively since school, where I only ran middle distance. I had been cycling and swimming to get fit after a back injury, and thought I would try jogging to mix it up a bit. I soon realised that I just loved running and like all newbies I was over enthusiastic and read everything about running, entered every event on the calendar, talked constantly about running and ran whenever I got the chance.

11 What is something about you most people wouldn’t know?
I can’t stand the colour purple.

12 If you could holiday anywhere, where would you go and what would you do?
I recently bought a camper van and Jan and I postponed a trip to the mainland touring when the pandemic struck. A camper van touring holiday is still what I’d like to do.