Q&A: Toby Gillen

Age: 19 
Event/s: 1500m, Mile, 3000m, 3000m steeple chase, 5000m 
Personal Best: 3:58, 4:22, 8:24, 9:40, 15:11 
Coach/s: Jill Boltz 
Club: Pace Project 

How old were you when you first started athletics? 

I started running when I was 8 however started competing when I was 10 years old in both cross country and track and field. 

What is your favourite event? 

My favourite event is both the 1500m and 3km. 

As a distance athlete what is your favourite type of training session? 

My favourite training sessions are hills and 400m’s. 

What kind of pre-event meal would you eat before a race? 

I like to eat a banana, peanut butter toast and drink lots of water before my races.

You recently competed in the North Queensland Championships in Mackay and broke a number of records in different events that had stood for quite some time. Do these types of achievements keep you motivated to keep training for bigger and better things? 

These achievements are a massive motivator to me however PB’s give me more focus and drive to improve. A record for me is just merely a stepping stone towards a faster time. 

Being selected in the Target Talent Program for 2020 is a great achievement. What does it mean to you to be recognised in a high performance pathway program for junior athletes throughout Queensland? 

The target talent program is a great achievement for me knowing that I have been invited to train alongside and talk with some of the best athletes in Queensland. 

Who is your favourite athlete? 

My favourite athlete is none other than my amazing, talented and inspiring coach Jill Boltz who runs Pace Project. 

You have a good training group in Cairns. What is it like to train with a group of people who have like-minded goals and aspirations? 

Training in such a large group of like minded people with similar goals and aspirations is a privilege. It helps me to focus at training to achieve my best to prepare for upcoming events. Not only is it an amazing run squad but more importantly feels like a family and always will.

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