GRANT MACDONALD. As part of the Pyllon Racing team, I was asked to “write a wee article about being selected to run for your country” a few weeks ago. Well since the country is currently getting itself in a big muddle over Brexit I am going to start this article with a Brexit analogy. I appreciate this is a very questionable way of grabbing your attention but bear with me, the two are linked.

Back in December after 3 years of trying I finally got a 24hour race right, running a bit over 250km at the Barcelona 24 hour race. The following month my selection for the GB team for the World Championships in Albi was confirmed. Weirdly the moment the email came in reminded me a lot of the 2016 EU referendum result. No really, stick with me. 

Watch the footage of the referendum result being announced and you can catch a brief moment of panic in the eyes of leaders of the Leave campaign when they actually win. Almost like they hadn't thought through the consequences of what a win would actually mean. That was what being selected for GB felt like to me.

I think if there had been a camera when the email confirming my place in the GB team came in, my face would have had the same flash of panic.  After 3 years of trying I was 99% delighted, but a small part of me was in full Farage mode thinking "Sh*t, I know I said I wanted this but I didn't think you would actually pick me!" Imposter syndrome definitely kicked in for the next few days. 

Eventually I got my head around selection and got stuck into training for Albi. I decided a big part of the training would be about the mental side of things. Sure I can run 250km in a low pressure race where nobody really cares about the result but doing it in a GB vest is going to be a whole different kind of pressure.

The last 8 months have been spent trying to get me to the start line in great shape and most importantly making sure my head is right for the biggest race of my life. If Paul and I have done our jobs properly I will be able to stand on the start line at the World Championships feeling like I belong there, not like an imposter. Have we achieved this?  We'll find out on 26th October.

PG (Grant’s coach): “Grant has trained incredibly well for the race and is in fantastic shape so all we can do now is wish him the very best of luck, and hope that he (and the rest of the team) get a chance to relax over the next few days. James Stewart will also be racing so it’s going to be a very exciting day for the whole Pyllon family.”