Sheffield athlete Calli Hauger-Thackery on Paris heartbreak and change of course in Tokyo
Chastened by her Olympic debut in Paris, Calli Hauger-Thackery is going back to the track in an attempt to preserve her passion for the marathon.
The 32-year-old from Sheffield, a lifelong member of Hallamshire Harriers, qualified to represent Great Britain in both the 10,000m and marathon at the world championships in Tokyo, which begin on Saturday.
But despite the marathon remaining her long-term ambition, she has opted to temporarily go back to the 10,000m. There were a variety of factors that led to the decision, but her experiences in Paris, where she misjudged the preparation for what was only her second marathon - and then failed to finish - were at the root of it.
“Your first Olympics is so overwhelming,” she says, “and the fact the marathon was on the final day, didn’t help.
“You want to be a team player and go and watch your team-mates, but you also want to be selfish, conserve as much energy as possible, especially in the marathon, and I don’t think I did a good job of that.
“I was having poor sleep, and because of that I had a poor appetite, so I had a calorie deficit, the energy wasn’t there on the day and that’s so frustrating.
“I’m still heartbroken about it now, but it’s made me more hungry. I learnt so much from it and it’s made me stronger.”
Hauger-Thackery is proud of herself because she didn’t let it get her down.
“I had to do another one sooner rather than later, I didn’t want to fall out of love with the marathon,” says Hauger-Thackery, who ran the Berlin Marathon just six weeks later and has subsequently run two more.
“Paris was only my second ever marathon so it was always going to be a big ask. The two weeks before it and the race itself was savage, absolutely brutal.
“So it could have gone the other way and put me off it for good, but it’s given me the fire I needed to never make that mistake again. Take all the learnings from it.
“I had to rip off the band aid and get in a race quickly. I probably wasn’t mentally ready but I physically was. When I did a decent time it made me realise, okay I can still do this, I’m still learning.”
For Tokyo, at least, the marathon is on the back-burner. The heat and humidity out in Japan would have been a challenge, so she would rather tackle that over the shorter distance. “I know I can hurt for six miles,” says Hauger-Thackery, who will return to the marathon in Chicago next month.
“At the world champs the 10,000m is the first event which is really nice, then I can go and support the team.
“The track feels quite new again, even though the 5k was my first love. I do feel really strong from all the marathon training, and I’m seeing the benefits from that. And I might not be able to do track forever.
“I’ve taken so much from this past year, and hopefully LA will be very different and I’ll be hungry and won’t make the same mistakes.
“If I can give it a good go on the track for a few weeks, hopefully that translates back into the marathon in the next few years.”