'I can’t wait for tomorrow': Mark English on reaching latest European final

The heat in Netherlands is unusually warm these days; this was its warmest March 8 ever with the mercury settling at 16.5 degrees. 

The country has gone 28 winters now without holding an Elfstedentocht - a 135-mile ice skating race that takes in 11 cities in the Friesland province when it can be staged - but even these temperatures are new territory.

Mark English was only three years old when the Elfstedentocht last took place - in January 1997.

English himself could feel the gauge rising as he headed for home in the 800m semi-final in Omnisport, Apeldoorn.

Nestled initially in third spot - a berth he occupied for much of the race - the Finn Valley AC racer was bumped down to fourth before he reached deep into his own depths to pull off another massive result.

The upshot: English will go under starter’s orders in Sunday evening’s European Indoor 800m final with his fifth continental medal now the target.

“It will come down to a couple of things, but I’m just excited to be a part of such a strong European field,” English told Donegal Live.

“I feel good. I feel very good and it didn’t take much out of me. I’m looking forward to tomorrow.”

Precision is needed in his profession as a medical doctor and the Letterkenny native goes about his track business in a similarly methodical manner. 

For only the third time in his career, English dipped below 1:46 indoors as he ran 1:45.89 to seal his place in the final, behind Eliott Crestan (1:45.84) of Belgium and Netherlands’ Samuel Chapple (1:45.86), who can expect a boisterous home crowd again in the final.

“It’s job done,” English observed having showed nerves of steel and big race craft in the closing stages. “I’m happy to make it to the final. I can’t wait for tomorrow.

“My plan was to be in contention for as much of it as possible. I feel like I did that. Thankfully it paid off.

“I saw it opened up on the outside of (Mariano) Garcia and I was really thankful that he was tying up a bit so it worked out. 

“It worked out as I expected it to - more or less. There were one or two surprises, but it was a real Championship race and thankfully I’ve had experience of plenty of them over the years so that stood to me.”

English described his emergence from the semi-final as a “massive weight off my shoulders”.

He has spoken before of just how close he feels the 800m field is in Europe these days - and the last couple of days have proved his point.

“You always know it’s a competitive race when you don’t know who’s going to win it,” the 31-year-old said.

“When you put the work in, the confidence kind of comes with that because you’re racing better all the time. 

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“Going into today, Crestan would have been the out and out favourite, but as I said after the heats anyone theoretically could win that race.”

Apledoorn has a rich history of paper manufacturing going back five centuries and its museums and sites are a pointer to that once-thriving industry. 

English arrived wanting to write the latest chapter of his own story.