Spikes22 Jun 2016


Jenny Simpson

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Jenny Simpson DYK

Jenny Simpson is one of America’s best middle distance runners. Just don’t ask her how good.

1. I am a huge Kansas City Royals fan

“Through my husband, Jason, I have become a huge fan of the Kansas City Royals baseball team. Supporting the Royals was a big deal for Jason growing up and I’ve really gotten into baseball and the Royals through him.

“For the past couple of years it has been really exciting as they have reached successive World Series [losing out 4-3 to the San Francisco Giants in 2014], finally winning last year [4-1 against the New York Mets] to end one of the worst droughts in American sport.

“The timing of the baseball playoffs work out well for me as it is during my off-season, so I can sit down and watch the games without compromising training. The past two years we’ve both been to games at the World Series, which was a lot of fun.

“The games in the World Series that we didn’t go to we obviously made a point of watching on TV. In fact, we are such big fans we intentionally didn’t invite people over to focus on watching the game! If we had invited someone we would be expected to play the good hosts and chat.”

2. I hardly know any of my personal bests

“I often give stats about my career to interviewers which are incorrect. It is so embarrassing. The reality is I just don’t retain much information about the times that I have run.

“Even if you gave me a multiple choice I would struggle to remember. Even my great wins – like winning gold at the 2011 World Championships – I know I ran 4:05 but can’t remember the hundredths of a second [it was 4:05.40, no Google, honest]. I just don’t file that stuff away.

“I know my 5k PR is 14:50 something [right ball park – it is 14:56.26 set in Zurich] but I’m not too sure on the details. I’m not even 100 per cent sure of my 1500m PR. It is either 3:57.21 or 3:57.22 [it is the latter].

“I couldn’t even tell you from two weeks ago the workout times I posted. I would definitely be no good talking about a Jenn in numbers piece!”

3. I love podcasts

“I don’t listen to music too often, but I love listening to podcasts. I think I must miss school because I love learning new things and hearing people’s stories.

“I love to read, but when you read it is your own voice telling you the story. When you listen to a podcast it is someone else telling you the story and it creates a special connection.

“One of my favourite podcasts is Stuff You Should Know. The subject matter can be on anything from the sun to the US primaries, which might sound boring but the information is presented in such a great way and there is a great banter between the two hosts.

“Another podcast I love is The Thrilling Adventure Hour, which are a bunch of stories, almost like a comic book, turned into a podcast.”

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