European XC Championships another step forward for Tomer Tarragano
James Davis talks to Tomer Tarragano prior to his British debut at the European Cross Country Championships.
Ahead of his first competition in British colours, Tomer Tarragano is making the most of the benefits of a focused last 12 months.
In qualifying for the Under 23 race at the European Cross Country Championships via an 11th place finish at the Liverpool Cross Challenge, the athlete has capped off a long period of development both as a junior with Brighton-based John Clements, and under university coach Dean Miller, with whom he has worked since 2020.
The Brighton and Hove athlete placed 56th at Liverpool in 2021, and he admits his lead-in wasn’t up to scratch: “Before Liverpool last year was pretty pathetic.
“Illness after illness, racing when I shouldn’t have been racing, the odd niggle here and there.”
For an athlete, not having put yourself in the position to compete can hurt more than missing out by an agonising margin.
A switch in mindset precipitated the changes that led the 21-year-old to European qualification this time around: “I knew if I’d just strung some weeks together and put my head down a little bit more, I probably could have done something a little bit more impressive.”
Talking to Tarragano, the words that come up repeatedly are ‘accountability’ and ‘focus’, and the results of the past year speak to those qualities.
A 12th place finish at the British Universities Cross Country Championships was the start of a season that saw him set personal bests at 1500, 3000, and 5000 metres on track.
His long-term development started in Clements’ group, one that had sent other talented distance runners to Birmingham.
First was Will Gray, who also made his British debut as an U23 at these championships, followed by sub-4 miler Ian Crowe-Wright.
Winning his first international vest in early 2020, Tarragano represented England over cross country in Belgium alongside present day teammate Matt Stonier.
Tarragano was just beaten to first by Stonier at the Southern Championships that year, also finishing ninth at the English National in a very strong season on what he considers his best surface: “I’ve always seen myself as someone who’s better on the cross. I love the mud.”
Ahead of this year’s Liverpool race, his build-up was structured well: “I had the perfect opportunity to come into Liverpool with a lot of training, because I cut my summer short.
“To have strung 3 weeks of basically PB after PB mileage weeks in October, and then feel pretty fresh off the back of it, was a big confidence booster”
Despite feeling in shape, it was words from Miller which precipitated Tarragano’s belief that he could perform at the top end of a strong British field: “I spoke about finishing in the top 20 the Monday before the race, and he’d laughed at that.”
When Miller asked him to have a think about it, he remained unconvinced: “I still thought it was silly.”
Miller continued his work during the build-up: “Over the course of the week I made him believe that he could.”
Miller, having been told by his athlete that he thought his chance of making the top 20 was about 1%, was not to be defeated in getting his message across, as Tarragano relayed: “Five minutes before the race at Liverpool, he comes up to me and says, ‘Just believe in that 1%.'”
Tarragano is joined at the championships by fellow Birmingham students Will Barnicoat, lead qualifier for the British Under 20 team, and Axel Vang Christensen, the reigning European champion in the same age group, looking to defend his title.
Transitioning into a university setup with a significant amount of like-minded athletes has helped him with consistency, adding early morning group runs alongside his typical day’s training: “It’s just nice to have a bit of accountability.
“Hammering the miles, just doing something special training-wise.”
Looking to the British Universities championships in the new year where all three will be competing in the same side, he has high hopes: “There’s a few people who can do something really special at BUCS.”
After this weekend, Tarragano has another year in which to potentially contest the U23 age group at these championships, and build upon his growing success.
He will be joined in the age group by Barnicoat, and training alongside a talented Birmingham group excites him: “This is a team with some serious, special depth.”
Read more: Dean Miller: Coaching, development, and life in Birmingham
