SARAH McDONALD
2016 HAS SEEN SARAH McDONALD KNOCK 10 SECONDS OFF HER 1500M PB. SHE TELLS EMILY MOSS WHAT LED TO THE IMPROVEMENT

Sarah McDonald: the medical student made huge strides forward in 2016
MARK SHEARMAN
ATHLETE INSIGHT
I HATE cross country, but I know it’s good for me. I really think it adds to my physical strength and mental toughness as a track runner. In fact, this year I had a few good cross-country races and I actually realised I was way higher up than I thought I would be. I guess that was the start of my improvement.
Before I went to Font Romeu, I did a 1000m ‘time trial’. I went through 800m two seconds quicker than I had raced over the distance in 2015. After that, I just really wanted to get out there and race.
It was a huge relief to discover all the winter grind had paid off by the time I got to my track season. The Birmingham Diamond League was definitely a huge highlight as I ran my PB of 4:07.18 there on home turf. It had been a long time since I had run a PB.