Exclusive By Owen Morgan
Distance runners beware . . . Dewi Griffiths is on his way back and he’s aiming to be faster and stronger than ever.
The Carmarthenshire athlete was in the form of his life in 2017 and looked set to star for Wales at the Gold Coast Commonwealth Games in April.
Personal bests had been recorded in the 3,000m, 5,000m and 10,000m last summer and then for the half marathon in Cardiff in early October.
At the end of that month Griffiths made his marathon debut in Frankfurt, clocking the fastest time by a Britain over 26.2 miles for three years. His time of 2:09.49 saw him finish fifth, the highest placed European runner in the field.
Despite suffering from injures either side of Christmas at cross country events, Griffiths was still confident of being fit for the Commonwealth Games.
But the day after picking up his prized Welsh kit ready for departure Down Under, the 26-year-old was told his dreams of running in the 5,000 and 10,000m had been cruelly dashed by injury.
A stress fracture in his hip meant Griffiths would miss out the chance to make up for the disappointment of the Glasgow games four years earlier where he ran with a foot injury which hampered his performance in the 10,000m.
But instead of dwelling on this latest setback, the Swansea Harrier threw himself into work on his family’s Llanfynydd farm and launched his rehabilitation, determined to return an even better runner as he targets the Tokyo Olympics in 2020 and Birmingham Commonwealth Games in 2022.
Despite conceding he is unlikely to race again until the autumn, ruling him out of this summer’s European Championships in Berlin, Griffiths told Dai Sport he was determined to take the positives out of his enforced lay off.
“I think long term, looking at two or three years down the line, it’s probably the best thing that’s happened to me . . . in a really stupid sort of way!
“Last year was a bit of a whirlwind the way everything was going. If everything had gone my way this year, if I’d gone to Australia and I was able to go to the Europeans, there wouldn’t have been a chance to have a step back, assess everything I was doing, take in all I have achieved and the level I have reached.
“It’s been nice to be able to do that and really recharge both mentally and physically. Now I’m ready to go again over the next couple of years.”
Part of the recuperation process has included analysing his performance and taking the opportunity to smooth out any creases.
“I’m using it as an opportunity to rectify things, taking the positives out of it and putting in some foundations,” he said.
“Correcting things that maybe weren’t quite right, to be in a position where I don’t get injured again, hopefully.
“With all the support I’ve been lucky enough to have, especially from Sport Wales and British Athletics, I’ve been able to rectify things that maybe I hadn’t even been aware of – to be able to have a chance to fully analyse everything I’m doing, so when I do come back, I’m doing everything to be the very best I can be.
“There’s nothing major to put right because I was running decent times, but those little things can hopefully make a big difference. The stronger the foundations the higher the peak, hopefully.
“I’m back running about four or five times a week now. Obviously nothing too strenuous but it’s nice to be back running again. As far as I know everything’s on track. Nothing’s cropped up so far anyway.
“In my mind, this summer has already gone. I’m looking to be back by the autumn although I’m not sure exactly what races yet.
“At the moment I’m just looking to get some of my speed back over the shorter distances and then go from there really. Nothing is set in stone but I’m hoping to be back by the autumn and back to where I was. That’s the aim at the moment.”
Griffiths is remarkably philosophical about being told he wouldn’t be going to the Gold Coast games, particularly at a time when he was in the form of his life.
“It was a weird week really,” he recalls. “On the Monday, I picked up my kit and then on Tuesday morning I got a phone call to say ‘you’re not going’.
“It was difficult, but then, at the same time, I realised it was for my greater good. I could have forced myself to run but in the long term it wouldn’t have been the best for me.
“It’s better sometimes to sacrifice a couple of months and then, hopefully, long term I’ll be better off for it.
“Injuries happen for a reason, I guess. Something obviously wasn’t quite right, or something I was doing wasn’t quite right, which hopefully I can put right for the future and be stronger than ever.”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nGy33NHaB6Q&vl=en-GB
Despite the disappointment of not being there, Griffiths says he enjoyed watching the games and the exploits of his Welsh team mates at home on TV.
“Because of the time difference it was a bit difficult to watch it all, but yes, I watched the highlights and watched the races I wanted to watch. It looked an excellent games and really enjoyable.
“I was always going to watch it, but there was no bitterness at not being there, I just looked at it that it wasn’t meant to be.”
One of the things which helped him overcome the disappointment was the fact that there is always plenty of work to do on the family farm.
“I was quite fortunate that even though I was injured, it wasn’t painful at all, I just couldn’t run. But it terms of every day life I was fine.
“It was pretty busy at home with lambing when I got the news that I wasn’t able to go to the Commonwealths, so in a way it was nice to be able to do something totally different and take my mind away from it.
“I couldn’t imagine anything worse than being injured and stuck on the sofa every day. So it was nice to not even think about not being able to run. That helped me quite a bit to get through it.
“Obviously I was being sensible, I wasn’t putting my injury at risk or anything like that. More than anything it was nice to be doing something different.
“Yes, I couldn’t run and yes, I couldn’t go to the Commonwealth Games, but life goes on and it’s not the end of the world.
“At the end of the day it was just that I couldn’t run. I think it’s put me in a more stable frame of mind as well, so it was quite positive in a way.”
Don’t think that Griffiths’ stoic acceptance of missing out on the Gold Coast games means he has given up on showing the Commonwealth, and the rest of the world, what he can do at the highest level when firing on all cylinders.
“The Gold Coast was on my radar for four years, and after my experience in Glasgow, I’ve definitely got unfinished business in the Commonwealth Games. I seem to only get injured every four years at the moment.
“I’m definitely aiming for Birmingham in four years time, but in the shorter term, everything from now on is working towards the Tokyo Olympics, I guess. The ground work I’m doing now is looking to try and qualify for Tokyo and being able to run my best there.
“That’s the positive looking forward, I know I can run those times now and can be competitive, so it’s just becoming more competitive and making sure that on the day I can perform. I’m putting those foundations in place now.”
And his focus is on running over the classic 26.2 mile distance in Tokyo and Birmingham.
“At the moment, it’s definitely the marathon, I think after my experiences last year, I’m definitely a marathon runner.”
Those performances last season have also convinced others that he is an athlete of the highest order.
Despite being injured, global sports brand Asics have signed up Griffiths and made him one of its nine movement ambassadors as part of the company’s Asics I Move Campaign, which sees him featured in an inspirational video tracing his career.
Griffiths says of being signed by Asics: “It shows all the hard work I’ve done over the last few years, it’s a reward for that. It’s a great company to be part of and something I’m really looking forward to working with in the future.
“It’s just unfortunate it’s started while I’ve been injured. But hopefully in the next year, two years, or whatever, I will repay the faith they’ve shown in me.”
Asics’ faith looks to be well placed if Griffiths’ performances and resilience in good times and bad during his career so far are anything to go by.