Very few will ever get to reach the heights of pulling on the national vest for a major international event. For the rest of us, it's all about those little victories; boosting your profile by scooping up the successes behind the headlines. Here are some handy hints to Officially Make You A Better Athlete (TM):
1. If someone asks for where you are ranked in the country, quote your English ranking instead of your UK one for an instant position hike. You can find out this ranking (and many more) by logging in on the Power of 10 rankings page, or instantly on the TOPS site.
2. Compete in one of many events of varying obscurity. These can be either standard ones like 400m hurdles (of course), steeplechase, pole vault or hammer - mop up those county titles - or non-standard race distances like 300m, 600m or similar. My personal favourite is the 200m hurdles, probably run three or four times a year, followed by the double decathlon (Google it).
3. Race indoors. As a rule of thumb, your UK indoor ranking for a given performance is roughly one order of magnitude better than it would have been had you run the same time outdoors.
4. Why not combine points 2 and 3 and run a rarely-raced distance indoors? National top-ten glory surely awaits.
5. Race in Welsh/Scottish/Irish championships (they're usually open) for a boost to your national champs credentials - and say you've raced in another country as a bonus. Alternatively race in national race-walking/combined events competitions.
6. Race in the above, the Northerns/Southerns/Midlands or major open meetings like the Birmingham Games and UK Cross Challenge races and perhaps draw an international figure for a great start-line (let's face it, not the finish line) photo and a name to drop in the future when you're sat at home eating Pringles and watching the Olympics on telly.
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