Last week we sat down with Adrian Potter, elite runner and club captain of the Adelaide Harriers Athletic Club, the oldest running club in South Australia. Here’s what he had to say;
1. Where did your running journey start?
Since I was 15 I have always participated in Adelaide’s City Bay but never trained properly. Hockey was my main sport and I used running to get fit for this, but started to enjoy the running more and found myself out at Adelaide Harriers doing intervals before hockey training. When I won the SA road running championships after a game the day before it clicked that I should take the running more seriously.
2. What's a general training week?
Monday - 60’ easy + 30 mins of gym
Tuesday - AM 30’ easy, PM 5km warm up, 8 x 1km 2:56 average with 2 faster reps at 2:50, 4km cool down
Wed - 60’ easy
Thursday - 75’ easy
Friday - 45’ easy
Saturday - 5km warm up, 3 x 5’ (3:07ave), 10’ (3:08ave), 2 x 1km (2:53, 2:50), 4km cool down
Sunday - 90’ easy
Total: 119km. Typically, this would be more like 130-140km but the aim this week was to freshen up slightly leading into race week.
3. Have you had any significant challenges or setbacks in your running career? I’ve been relatively lucky to avoid any major injuries or setbacks so have nothing to complain about. However I’m currently in a PB drought, with my last PB over 2 years ago! The more experienced I get the harder it is to take time off and the race conditions are harder to replicate. I ran my Debut Marathon at Gold Coast this year in a big blow up, so that should at least give me some low hanging fruit!
4. Can you share a memorable race that stands out in your mind, either because of the outcome or the experience? One of my favourite memories was running my 5000m PB of 13:46 at the 2022 Adelaide Invitational. This was just after the Tokyo Olympics and atmosphere was amazing with by far the largest crowd I’ve seen at the Adelaide track. I had lots of friends, family and teammates in the crowd and broke my PB by 10 seconds.
5. Who have been the most influential people in your running journey, and how have they impacted you? David Patterson, he has been my coach for approaching 10 years and has been unbelievably generous with his time and a massive supporter of my running. He sets and runs all our club sessions year round in rain hail or shine for nothing more than the occasional coffee, which I owe him plenty.
6. What do you consider to be the most significant achievement in your running career so far? I think my best performance is my 3,000m PB of 7:57.51 but looking back I am proud that I have managed to compete in the A race of the national 5,000m for the last 8 years.
7. Beyond personal achievements, what legacy do you hope to leave in the world of athletics? I enjoy seeing my teammates and the juniors at the club improving, so I am keen to help them out where I can and hope I can be someone they can look up to.
