Presenting Dermot O'Leary by Neil Simpson

Author:Neil Simpson [Neil Simpson]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781784184667
Publisher: John Blake
Published: 2015-01-15T00:00:00+00:00

Whenever Dermot feels the pressure he pulls on his running shoes and hits the streets. It is a throwback to his school days when he had always been desperate to win cross-country races as a teenager. Now, as an adult, he moved on to half-marathons and marathons. And while he never expected to win he did want to clock up some very good times.

He has become a regular at the London Marathon and the Great North Run – and while he jokes about being beaten by fellow racers dressed up as beef burgers and Cornish pasties he is actually fiercely proud of always finishing. Psychologists say running is a perfect pastime for ambitious, driven and uncompromising personalities, Dermot’s fellow marathon runner Gordon Ramsay being a prime example. They say the sport ticks the right boxes because you aren’t at the mercy of other team-mates or the random spin of a ball. Instead you are fighting just two key foes: the clock and your own determination – or lack of it. Dermot fought them both in each race. And he was particularly proud that he went below the four-hour mark in the London marathon in 2005.

On a happier note, Dermot says that in the big races there is more to a run than simply pushing your body to its limit. There’s also the joy of anonymity. The joy of being lost in the crowds – something he feels most intensely in the London Marathon. ‘You always have these amazing moments when someone yells out your name, not because you’re on the telly but because they’ve just read it on the front of your shirt and they think you look a bit tired and need some encouragement. That makes me well up as well as pick up my pace. The crowds are unbelievable; it’s the most good-natured event in London and it seems to bring out the best in everybody.’

When Dermot can’t get lost in a crowd he likes to leave everyone behind altogether. And the more he is recognised in the street the more he likes to get away. On a rare spare weekend he often heads out to the riverbanks near his parents’ home in north Essex for a few hours’ fishing. As sports go it is hardly at the cutting edge of cool. But just like marathon running it ticks a lot of mental boxes for Dermot. It gives him the luxury of peace and space. It takes him back to his childhood – all those days spent fishing amid the lakes and rivers of County Wexford and in the gently rolling ‘Constable country’ of Essex and Suffolk. Most importantly, it lets Dermot fade into the riverbank. When he is fishing he’s just another solitary figure in a hat and waterproofs. When he’s fishing he’s not a heartthrob or a ‘personality’. And however much he loves being on television, he does need occasional breaks from all of that. Especially as his fan-base seems to be growing by the day.

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