This week we check-in with 400m athlete David Campbell. As Men’s T&F captain, David has been integral to the club’s steady rise in the National Leagues – both outdoor and indoor: and he is constant in his encouragement and support of developing young club athletes.
STANDARD QUESTIONS
PLACE AND YEAR OF BIRTH? I was born on the 15th June 1992 and have lived in Celbridge, County Kildare for most of my life.
WHERE WERE YOU EDUCATED? After finishing secondary school at Salesian College in Celbridge I went onto my Undergraduate Degree in Business Management at National College of Ireland. I then went onto DCU where I completed my Masters in e-commerce which was one of the best decisions I’ve ever made. I think it’s very important to be continuously learning throughout life and I have recently finished my Postgraduate Degree in Digital Marketing from the Digital Marketing Institute.
WHAT IS YOUR PLANNED CAREER PATH? I have been lucky in life so far as the Masters in DCU set me up extremely well. My current role is the Head of e-Commerce in ‘flexii’ and I’m also a Director of ‘Digital Business Ireland’. I’m passionate about Online / Digital Marketing and love helping clients selling online in Ireland and Internationally. I’ve always wanted to work abroad so I may venture to our Head Office in Sydney with flexifi, but New York has always been a dream spot for me, so we’ll see what the next few years holds!
IN WHAT YEAR DID YOU JOIN DONORE HARRIERS? 2011 when I was in 6th year at Salesian College and never looked back.
WHY DID YOU CHOOSE DONORE HARRIERS? The legend that is Maurice Ahern approached me one day at the Leinster T&F championships in Santry and the rest is history. He’s been like a dad to me since day one and I have huge respect for this man!
WERE YOU A MEMBER OF ANY OTHER CLUB BEFORE JOINING DONORE HARRIERS? I ran locally with Celbridge Athletic Club. I wanted to move up to 400m and Donore Harriers seemed to be a great fit in terms of facilities, coaching, and a training group.
DID YOU PARTICIPATE IN ANY OTHER SPORTS? When I was young, I played Gaelic and Hurling like most Irish kids and badminton was always a big part of my life. I got selected for the Irish squad back in 2011 but athletics was the sport I wanted to pursue in college.
WHAT IS YOUR FAVOURITE ATHLETICS EVENT? Watching on TV it would probably be the sprints, anything from 100m – 400m are always great and there’s some serious young talent out there. My favourite event when competing is the 4x400m relay. There’s nothing like it, I love getting the chance to run with the boys, the adrenalin rush and seeing Donore Harriers crossing the line first! I usually run my best races of the year in the 4x400m, I run the first leg and try to imagine there’s a dog chasing me from behind!
WHAT IS YOUR PRESENT ROLE(S) AT THE CLUB? I’m the Men’s Track & Field Captain and have been in this role since 2013.
WHO WERE YOUR SPORTING INSPIRATIONS/INFLUENCES? I’m a huge fan of Michael Johnson but David Gillick was my favourite athlete in the World. I really looked up to him because he showed that an Irish man could mix it with the best athletes across the Globe. He won the European Indoor Championships twice and was a finalist in the World Indoor & Outdoor 400m championships. He’s still our National 400m record holder with 44.77 which is incredible. You can’t forget about the great Usain Bolt, he was one of a kind!
SOCIAL QUESTIONS
WHAT WAS THE LAST BOOK YOU READ? I think it was Usain Bolt’s book, I’m terrible for reading and I’m ashamed to admit this one took me over a year to complete. I find it very hard to sit down and read, I always prefer to be up and moving around doing something.
WHAT WAS THE LAST CONCERT YOU ATTENDED? Picture This in the 3Arena. They put on a class show and I would highly recommend going to see them!
WHAT ARE YOUR 3 FAVOURITE FILMS?
1. Step Bothers…never gets old!
2. Oceans 11 – 13…I loved these.
3. The Bourne Series.
FAVOURITE COUNTRY VISITED? China was incredible, I went to Beijing and Shanghai which was some experience. I went to the Rugby World Cup in Japan last year and the Japanese are probably the nicest people in the world. I’ve travelled a lot with work across Europe, but I really love the American lifestyle.
WHAT ARE YOUR OTHER INTERESTS AWAY FROM ATHLETICS/SPORT? I love fishing down West with my dad. I used to spend my Summers down In Mayo as kid with my grandparents. We fish on the Cong river as well as on Lough Corrib for Salmon and Trout. We head out to Connemara during the Summer for Sea fishing for mackerel…. 6 fish on 1 line is some fun!
IF DESERT ISLAND DISCS ASKED YOU TO PLAY 3 SONGS, WHAT WOULD THEY BE?
1. Summertime by Will Smith… an ideal setting!
2. American Teen by Khalid… reminds me of those hot days training in Portugal and all the good times with my training partner Jack Raftery!
3. Californication by Red Hot Chilli Peppers… one of my favourite bands in the world!
ATHLETICS QUESTIONS
WHO IS YOUR COACH? I have moved around a lot since joining Donore but right now it’s John Geoghegan, Emily Geoghegan and Paul Clarkin. These three are ace and all the group love them!
WHAT DO YOU CONSIDER TO BE YOUR BEST ATHLETICS ACHIEVEMENT? The first time Donore Harriers won the Outdoor National Track & Field League in 2014 and got promoted to the Premier Division. Three years of hard work and the boys put on an epic performance! Simon Taggart was a “beast” of a man and he always filled the squad with positivity and confidence. John Travers also put in huge shift winning the 800m, Steeple Chase and a finished off with a nifty 4x400m leg!
WHAT ARE YOU BEST TIMES (PBs)?
200m – 23.20
400m – 51.18
800m – 2.00
WHAT IS YOUR FAVOURITE COACHED SESSION? I love hills at the Magazine Fort, it’s always a killer but after you feel 10 feet tall…once you’ve picked yourself up from the floor that is! Another one I love is 2 sets of 2x200m off 3 minutes and 6 minutes recovery, great for race prep and to find out what sort of shape you’re in. 30m fly’s are serious fun and I love getting to race the lads at full tilt.
DESCRIBE THE MOST DIFFICULT SESSION THAT YOU HAVE DONE? A real man killer is 375m – 400m – 425m at race pace. I think everyone genuinely fears this one and it leaves nobody standing.
WHAT IS A TYPICAL WEEKLY TRAINING PLAN? Currently it’s challenging for everyone but if everything was perfect then the below would be an ideal week:
Monday: Pilates
Tuesday: Speed Work on the track
Wednesday: Gym & Yoga
Thursday: Speed Endurance on the track
Friday: Yoga
Saturday: Long track session “Lactic City” followed by gym.
Sunday: Easy run or 200m tempo.
DO YOU HAVE A FUNNY STORY RELATED TO ATHLETICS/the CLUB? I’m banned from running 1st in the 4x100m relay because I’m such a liability for false starting. Louis O’ Loughlin created the saying “TTS” (Topless Training Session) so when it’s the last rep and someone calls TTS you better bring your A game.
I’m also known for developing creative ways of hiding the fact that I may need an athlete to run a dreaded 4x400m leg…sorry lads. I know he puts in a huge amount of work on the track and gym, but I always tell Jack Raftery that if he runs a big PB I’ll buy him Krispy Kreme Donuts…it works!
WHAT ONE CHANGE WOULD YOU LIKE TO SEE AT DONORE HARRIERS? A full 400m tartan track!
WHO ARE YOUR TOP 3 IRISH SPORTSPERSONS OF ALL TIME (ALL SPORTS)?
1. Sonia O’Sullivan
2. Jonathan Sexton
3. Katie Taylor
SPECIFIC QUESTIONS
YOU HAD A SPELL WHERE YOU WERE TRAINING AND COMPETING AS A MIDDLE-DISTANCE ATHLETE, COMPETING IN THE WATERHOUSE, BYRNE, BAIRD 10-mile HANDICAP RACE AND THE DUBLIN NOVICE CROSS-COUNTRY. HOW WAS THAT EXPERIENCE? I was being coached by Gerry Naughton and we had a serious group with the likes of Louis O’Loughlin, Jack Raftery and Abdel Laadjel. The sessions were gruelling at times with the Kenyan Hills, Indian Hills and the track pyramid sessions. My favourite session was 600s on the Polo Grounds, I miss these!
I found the training was a better fit because I really struggled to recover from training with work / college and it was nice to be able to do sessions from home if needed. I wanted to run 16 minutes for 5k at Jingle Bells but on the day I got sick and dropped out after 1km so I was determined to put things right at the Waterhouse Byrne 10 mile which nearly killed me… I ended up in A&E a few days later! I wanted to drop out several times during the race but ended up finishing 2nd in a time of 67minutes which was a big step up from the usual 400m, so I was delighted. Gutted to miss out on the win but I don’t think I’ll be making a return.
THE NATIONAL TRACK & FIELD LEAGUES ARE CLOSE TO YOUR HEART. INDEED, YOU HAVE BEEN INSTRUMENTAL IN THE MEN’S TEAM STEADY RISE IN THE LEAGUE. HOW DO YOU SEE THE NEXT STEP TOWARDS CHALLENGING FOR NATIONAL TEAM TITLES? Right now, it’s hard to know if we will race again this year on the track but the goal hasn’t changed. We want to do the double and win Gold at the Indoor and Outdoor National League. We have an amazing group of talented athletes across all disciplines and I genuinely believe we can do it.
Donore is special, it’s like a family rather than an athletics club. I don’t have any brothers but the lads on the team feel like family members to me and I’ll do anything I can to help them. You also must acknowledge those who have been there since the start such as Adam Halpin, he would do any event for the team. The big thing we need is commitment from all groups and once this happens there’s nothing stopping us from winning outdoor Gold and having Donore Harriers represent Ireland at the European club championships…believe!!!
THE CLUB IS PRESENTLY BLESSED WITH A HOST OF VERY TALENTED YOUNG ATHLETES IN SPRINTS, MIDDLE-DISTANCE AND FIELD EVENTS. HOW DO YOU THINK THE CLUB CAN BEST SUPPORT THESE ATHLETES TO TRANSITION TO SENIOR LEVEL? The most important thing is to make sure an athlete is enjoying the sport. We’ve all had days when you want to hang up the spikes and this is where coaches play such an important role. Coaches are almost like a mother / father to an athlete who develop a special bond. Not every athlete is the same so it’s important to understand that athletes will respond differently to training and the environment around them.
Sponsorship will play a huge role in terms of making sure athletes get support for physio, training camps and equipment etc. Most of all, check in with your fellow athletes regularly because mental health is even more important than your physical health. My physical therapist Ciaran McDonagh not only keeps my body in check but he’s the best person in the world to keep my mind positive, I always leave the treatment room full of confidence!
IS COACHING SOMETHING YOU WOULD LIKE TO DO IN THE FUTURE? I don’t want to think of myself as a coach right now, I’ll stay as an athlete because I still believe my best performances are yet to come on the track and I’ve a lot of running left in my legs.
Down the line I may look into coaching, but it depends on several factors. I would only start coaching if I could fully commit to this role, there’s no point in doing a half-hearted attempt. The same principle applies to me in my job, I’ll never commit to a project unless I’m passionate about the area and can guarantee I can devote my full attention.
GOT ANY SPECIAL MESSAGE? Yes, special thanks to all our amazing athletes, coaches, committee members, our president and supporters for all their work. Donore Harriers is a special group and I can’t wait to see everyone back on the track soon… stay safe!
