| What's your full embarrassing name? |
Sir Gordon Sebastian Linford Reid OBE - Only Kidding, plain ole' Gordon Reid |
| Married, or are you young, free and single and like to mingle? |
Single, but have been with girlfriend Sarah for five years after I somehow impressed her with my drunken advances in a JD Wetherspoon pub in Watford. |
| Where do you live? |
In my flat in Gosport, I'm not telling you the address in case Tony Allen stalks me - he likes to 'Kick Ass' you know! |
| Do you work or stay at home? |
I work, if you can call it that, at the London Area Control Centre at Swanwick. I get to whizz planes about the sky for a living and control a part of Southern UK airspace including that bit right above Stubbington. It's a good occupation for a megalomaniac like me, but it's nothing like the film 'Pushing Tin'. |
| How long have you been a member at Stubbington? |
Two years, since I was attracted by the nice looking website. I'm not joking by the way - had Gosport had a decent website, I might have gone there. Not the most intelligent way to choose a running club, but I was lucky. |
| Can you remember your first race? |
My first race for a club was in a Scottish & North West League match for Kilmarnock Harriers. I was well chuffed with my win in the 800m and 1500m until I found out I was running in the wrong age group! I had a pair of adidas shoes with fixed spikes and looked as though they were made of plastic. Luckily, after about a month, someone stood on my foot during a 4x100m relay and practically ripped the shoe off my foot. My dad bought me nice pair of Nikes as replacement. |
| How often do you bother to go training? |
I try to run five times a week, but I'm not very consistent. I find working shifts tiring and to be honest, I'm quite lazy. |
| What is your favourite training run? |
I really enjoy running up and around Butser Hill on a fresh morning. Such a feeling of achievement when you get to the top, and down over the north-west side you can really feel as though you have the whole countryside to yourself. Coming back over is a bit of a challenge though! |
| What was your best ever race? |
Scottish Schools under-15 Cross Country, Irvine Beach Park 1987. I was 7th as we approached the bottom of an 80m climb, with 500m to go. I was 2nd at the top of the hill and won by 3 seconds. The guys who were 2nd and 3rd were both at least a foot taller than me (nothing's changed!) and it took me a week to recover (nothing's changed there either!). |
| And what was your worst or most embarrassing race? |
British Schools under-15 International Cross Country, Lincoln 1987. Full of confidence after gubbing a couple of giant Edinburgh public schoolboys at the Scottish champs, I hit the front right away. After about a mile I was overtaken by the entire English team with one lad shouting "Come On England!" as he passed. Shortly after, the entire Welsh, Northern Irish and Scottish teams passed me too - leaving me to finish stone last in my first ever international race. |
| Do you have a pre-race ritual? |
I never put my vest on until the last minute and never wear a watch when I race. |
| What is the best piece of gear you have bought? |
Either my long-sleeved Helly Hansen - sooooo cosy for running on cold winter nights. Or my heart rate monitor - a great tool that I use mainly to check my recovery. |
| Worst piece of gear? |
I bought a Garmin Forerunner 201. It's a GPS watch. I wanted to not have to stick to the same old routes but still be able to measure them accurately. However, it never seems to maintain satellite signal for an entire run and it won't download my runs to an electronic OS map, like other GPS receivers do. Bit of a waste of money. |
| Why do you run when you could be sat at home watching EastEnders? |
Because self-punishment is ultimately way more enjoyable than watching a bunch of Mockney actors in a weekly melodrama. |
| What does she/he who must be obeyed think about your running? |
I think she gets fed up when I answer "Hard" every time she asks "How was your run?". |
| What is the one piece of advice you would give to any new runner? |
Don't run too close to Chris Hall when there are puddles to be jumped in. Oh, and stretch after every run. |