Great run at the weekend and a great celebration (which seems to be a big of a habit!) when you crossed the line. Did that come as a slight surprise for you?
PM - Thank you! The result was extremely surprising (in a good way) – I knew I was in good shape coming in the race but definitely did not expect to make the podium. I think my celebration was more revealing of genuine shock at what had just happened. I’ve done some rather bold/terrible celebrations in the past so am glad to have not made a fool of myself this time!
Some pretty brutal underfoot conditions on the day. How did that affect your preparation and tactics for the race?
PM - Going into the weekend I knew that the course would be a total quagmire and was really relishing the chance to get stuck into it. The mud, shortened course distance and combining of U23 and Senior races was always going to be a perfect recipe for chaos and made me realise that lots of guys would go out extremely hard, so I made a plan to just survive and hide for the first kilometre and pick people off from then on. This meant I felt more in-control during the race, exploiting the unpredictability of it all rather than letting myself be overwhelmed by it.
You're predominantly competing in orienteering, what was the thinking behind switching it up and tackling the XC at Liverpool?
PM - Orienteering is primarily a summer sport, so following the end of the 2024 international season I wanted to set some ambitious goals for the winter and carry through my off-road running form into autumn. In fact, Liverpool and potential Euro Cross selection was suggested to me whilst a group of us Cambridge runners were on an athletics tour to Japan this September! It’s a race I’ve always wanted to do, and the potential prospect of GB selection undoubtedly sharpened my focus for it.
Is XC something you'll be looking to do a bit more of going forward?
PM - In short, yes. I really enjoyed competing for the Cambridge University Hare and Hounds in Varsity, BUCS championships and other races during my four years there and have recently joined Central AC up home in Scotland and am very much looking forward to competing more for the club. My Power of 10 is a little sparse and could do with beefing out!
You've achieved quite a few GB vests in orienteering, how does this one fare up against them all?
PM - It’s been amazing to have had the opportunity to represent GB in orienteering as part of a strong and enthusiastic team for several years now and I am keen to build on my results at international level in the future. There’s nothing as exciting as representing your country internationally, so in that sense this vest in cross-country is no different. It is, however, a good deal more unexpected, so having been given this fantastic opportunity I can’t wait to make the most of it in Turkey!
You recently graduated from Cambridge, how did you manage to juggle your studies and competitive athletics and what advice would you give to any younger athletes who are perhaps just starting on their academic journey?
PM - I was lucky to be part of the Athlete Performance Programme at Cambridge and really benefited from the support it provided, particularly for strength and conditioning. I also studied Modern Languages, which proved a useful degree for me as an athlete as not only did it include a year abroad on which a questionable amount of academic work was done, but also provided a more flexible timetable back in Cambridge which allowed me to attend training camps and races without too much stress.
To younger athletes I would say that the British student running/athletics scene is unbelievably strong right now and there are so many lively, performance-driven running clubs at various universities – just pick one (preferably Cambridge!) and get stuck in. And if ever you’re worried about missing academic commitments because of sport, remember that it’s always way better to ask for forgiveness, not for permission. Also, choose a humanities degree – it’s way less work.
What is your current coaching set up like and what does an average week of training look like?
PM - I don’t have a personal coach per se. Instead, I prefer to take advice and opinions from a range of people I trust within the British Orienteering setup and my running clubs. This works well for me as I have always been quite independently minded in terms of training.
Speaking of which, I average around 150km per week of running with 2-3 S&C sessions in the gym. I don’t do cross-training and generally have 2 days of interval sessions, a Sunday long run, and a tempo run during the week. In recent months I’ve dabbled in everyone’s favourite new thing, namely double threshold days; I think it can work well, particularly if you are training primarily on your own and have ample time on a Tuesday (or indeed any day of the week), like me. I always do plenty of soft surface running and am enjoying doing more regular hilly training and orienteering, having been starved of this for four years whilst living in the flatlands of East Anglia!
Will you make any changes to training in the lead up to Antalya?
PM - Not particularly. The direct lead-in to the competition is so short that there is only really time to continue the training you had already planned and then taper into the race itself. I am, however, expecting the race to be very fast and so am incorporating more speed work into my interval sessions, just to get the legs more used to turning over at high speed.
What are you hoping to achieve at the Euro Cross ?
PM - Win. Just kidding. This is a hard one to answer: I will set some sort of more concrete, position-based goal in the coming days, but right now my main focus is on delivering a similarly strong tactical performance to my race at Liverpool, run well in relation to the other Brits, and contribute to a strong overall team performance in the race.
You've had a pretty successful 2024, running a pb over the half and racing all around across the world in orienteering events. What would you say is your favourite event?
PM - In orienteering my absolute favourite discipline is the relay, be it in urban or forest terrain. The chaos, unpredictability and physicality of it is just class, and winning as a team is always the best feeling. In running, I do love the mental challenge of a half-marathon (running the Cambridge Half was definitely a highlight of this year), but there is nothing to beat a bit of proper muddy cross-country. My favourite course is undoubtedly the Wimbledon Common Varsity 12k course: hard as nails on all surfaces, the perfect antidote to this NCAA-style perfectly landscaped woke nonsense we see nowadays.
Going into 2025, what's the plan?
PM - 2025 should be an exciting year both for running and orienteering, so I am looking to start quite gently with some solid base training, maybe at altitude, before seriously targeting some races in the Spring, with a view to then delivering a strong summer of international orienteering races.
I would also love to be a) selected to run at the World Orienteering Championships in 2025 and b) not get myself disqualified like I did at the same competition in 2024 in what was perhaps one of the less distinguished moments of my career so far. Not that I’m still hung up about that or anything.
Can we expect to see you at Flat n Fast 4 in April??
PM - I hope so! I haven’t quite mapped out my racing schedule for 2025 next year, but it would be rude to not have a crack if I’m free, considering the course is a 5-minute jog from my front door. I’d love to chip away a bit more at my 5k PB, and when there’s a way to do it that doesn’t involve nearly getting frostbite in Armagh then of course I’m interested!
You can watch Peter and the rest of the action on BBC Red Button, iPlayer and the BBC Sport website and app. Coverage starts at 07:55 GMT on Sunday, 8 December.
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