George Mills has already run the qualifying time for the Paris Olympics. Photo: Getty Images/Michael Steele
“Striped, basic running.” It's what George Mills says is his favorite pastime, and when you hear that even his father – former Premier League player Danny Mills – was shocked by the lifestyle required, you sense the runner's dedication. “I'm just happy to wake up, train, have lunch, sleep, train again, have dinner and go to bed,” says George.
What about going to a cafe or restaurant?
“I don’t need a coffee shop, I don’t need to go out to dinner,” he says of a life spent mostly in high-altitude training camps in Austria and South Africa and regularly running more than 200 kilometers a week in pursuit of qualifying for the Olympic Games this summer.
Indeed, Danny, a former England right-back who rose to fame playing for Leeds United and Manchester City, likes to tell the story of how he once went to visit his son at the On Club's winter base in Dullstroom and suggested they go somewhere… something to eat. The answer was a clear “no” due to a very specific meal that was needed that evening before training the next day.
Danny Mills supported his son George's sporting career from a young age
“My approach is that you get one career and it's very short,” George says. “I don't see it as a sacrifice. I'm doing what I love. That's what you have to do if you want to get to the top. You can't live a normal life. It's been two and a half years of hard, gritty work, with basically nothing but training.”
Mills, 25, describes his training grounds as “quiet little places” where he is part of an international team of seven men and six women who also lead the same obsessive lifestyle. But on Saturday comes the first big championship test of the season when Mills, who already has the required Olympic qualifying time, takes on Norway's two-time world champion Jakob Ingebrigtsen in the European Championships 5000m final at the Stadio Olimpico in Rome.
Danny has never actually played in a 70,000-capacity stadium – he has been on the bench twice during Leeds' European matches – but on Saturday night he will be in the stands with his family to cheer on his son.Mills has already produced run times this season that are among the fastest of any British athlete over 1500m and 5000m: his 12 minutes 58.68 seconds for the longest distance he has run indoors is within reach of Moe's British record Faraha (12-53,11). “I've been watching a lot of his races lately, doing a lot of homework just to learn and see what 5K races can be like,” Mills says.
On the prospect of emulating Josh Kerr and Jake Whiteman After beating Ingebrigtsen at a major championship, Mills says, “Every part of you goes to a race and thinks, 'I can beat whoever is in there.' But then you have to be realistic. He has won the last two world championships. Jacob is damn good – very, very strong. I'll try to put myself in the best position to be there and do it.”
Any medal would be remarkable progress, but judging by the celebrations when he reached the Olympic standard in January, there was no chance of him getting carried away. “I got home after the race, made dinner like normal, went to bed, got up, went to practice the next day and I was like, 'OK, tick, tick, tick,'” he says. “I don’t want to be distracted in any way. It's constant focus, discipline and all-round hard work.”
Danny Mills travels frequently to support George's athletic career
And given his father's football success and the fact that his younger brother Stan is an Everton striker, would he say that his sporting achievements are more down to talent or hard work?
“Since this winter, I have been driving more than 200 kilometers a week for many weeks…. I'd say it probably has more to do with hard work than talent. If you look at the training, this question will answer itself.”
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