We hear from an endurance athlete whose sense of adventure and brush with marathon training are paying dividends on the track

Strictly speaking, it wasn’t her gap year to hijack, but in November 2019 – with her teenage sister leading the way – Calli Thackery travelled to Australia to find what was missing in her life. 

A former student at the University of New Mexico, Thackery, who finished fifth over 5000m at the 2015 European Under-23 Championships, had struggled to transition from full-time athlete to full-time employment when she moved back to the UK. When her sister chose to move to the other side of the world, she made an impulsive decision to go too.

“We were in the travel agents and I just had this lightbulb moment,” says the 29-year-old whose dad, Carl, is a former world half-marathon bronze medallist. “I knew something was missing. Life was good, but I’d gone from having this really good life in America and I knew there was so much more out there.

“I knew the person I needed to get in touch with was Nic Bideau [founder and coach of the Melbourne Track Club (MTC)]. I felt like I was going for an interview that I was under-qualified for, but I had nothing to lose.”

A little over two years later, having been guided by Bideau since her arrival, Thackery’s decision paid off with a 5000m PB and World Championships qualifying time of 15:09.08 in Sydney in April.

“I wanted to replicate what I had in the US, and MTC and Nic have been so good for me,” she says. “I’m such a free spirit in life, that’s why I get on so well with Nic, because he lets me be myself.”

It hasn’t been an easy ride. Thackery arrived in Australia just prior to the raging bush fires which derailed MTC’s plans to go to their traditional Falls Creek camp, then Covid hit. When group training was halted due to strict local lockdowns, she relocated to the Gold Coast to train with Australian 3000m steeplechase record-holder and Olympic finalist Genevieve Gregson. 

Thackery eventually returned to Melbourne in January 2021 and, by that point, her passion for the track was on a knife-edge, balanced between her own belief of what was possible, versus the expectation of a marathon debut from others. Weighed down by the possibility that she might not return to the level she desired on the track, she opted to switch to the roads and embarked on a solid six-month training block which ended in injury. 

The experience has ironically been the springboard for her incredible recent performances, first a 15:26.87 on tired marathon legs in March – improving her then PB for the first time since 2016 – followed by her UK season-leading 15:09.08 in April and then 15:06.26 at the Watford BMC Grand Prix on June 11 and a decision to abandon her 26.2-mile aspirations.

Speaking before her latest PB in Watford, she said: “It’s bittersweet for me really, because I was training for the Manchester Marathon, and now I’ve run 15:09 and that’s great, but do I need to be a marathon runner to do that again?” she laughs. 

“I think my injury [a stress response] helped me. It made me put things into perspective. When I came back to running after that [six weeks off] I was enjoying every step and I was appreciative of being healthy and happy. There was a shift for me in the way I thought about running, like I almost needed that to happen.

“I knew what I was capable of, and I’d seen glimpses of it in training, but before [this year] I had nothing to show for it. This year, finally, it’s clicked, and I’ve got back to where I want to be.

“Now I’ve done it I can finally breathe. I feel like I’ve finally cracked it again and I can enjoy training for what it is. I’m so motivated now. It’s been a long road, but it’s coming together and I’m very thankful to be back.”