Josh Bail caps off breakthrough cross country season with U20 Men's Champion Athlete honour

The long distance runner finished 15th at his first Australian Cross Country Championships in Adelaide last month to help Victoria to a team gold medal, after qualifying fifth at the Victorian championships.

Contesting the Victorian XCR (cross country) season from April to August, with distances varying from four to 10 kilometres, Bail's efforts also culminated in the under 20 Men's XCR Champion Athlete of the Year honour.

Bail, 18, said his breakthrough was built from consistency and a change to his coaching and training routine.

"I didn't expect it to happen but it was incredible to see how far I came," he said. "It's not being the quickest every week, it's about being able to put in the work back-to-back and getting a good string of two-three-four months of uninterrupted training which I had leading up to nationals and I saw the results."

It's a considerable effort for the former hockey player, who only picked up the sport in July 2020 to stay fit.

Injuries cursed Bail early on, including a broken foot in March 2021 and torn iliotibial band earlier this year.

Bail said athlete-specific training from Geelong-based coach Graeme Watkins saw him recover from an injury and excel to 15th in the country in the space of six months.

"It is super motivating to know when you've got people behind you, it makes all the difference," he said.

Self-motivation is key for Bail, who juggles a full-time Marine Biology degree at Deakin University, two casual jobs, alongside running 85-90 kilometres a week. The teenager can also commute up to eight hours in a day to compete in Ballarat, Bendigo or Melbourne.

"There is definitely some nights in the middle of winter where I couldn't think of anything worse," he said.

"It's a bit hard down here in Warrnambool being so isolated. I'm the only one from here who is competing the way I am.

"The motivation side of it is knowing the work is going to pay off. And knowing I will have the opportunity to be able to run and it's just a matter of working hard and keeping that at the forefront of my mind."

Bail said support from his home club Athletics South West and the local community helps push him forward.

"It's definitely challenging not having a squad of some sort," he said. "Athletics South West, they're fantastic, it gives me the opportunity to be able to race. And I have a very good friend of mine, Tom Hines, who is an exceptional runner and I train quite often with him."

Bail's attention turns to the upcoming summer track season, where he will compete with the Turbines in the Athletics Victoria Shield League.

"It will be all guns blazing for track as I'll hopefully look to make nationals again for track in a couple of events," he said of his pet 3000m and 5000m events. "From there we'll see how we go, hopefully get a couple national qualifiers or even world qualifiers."

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