Ben Moreau studied Physiological Sciences at Lady Margaret Hall between 2000 and 2003. He is hoping to compete in the marathon for Great Britain at London 2012.
I was forced to do cross-country at school and because I was ok at it I kept getting picked for the teams! Eventually I decided to train for it a bit.
I trained a lot while at Oxford but over shorter distances. I found combining sport and study quite easy as there were so many people to train with and time was fairly flexible. I only began running marathons once I left Oxford.
In order to qualify for London 2012 I need to run a marathon in less than 2 hours and 12 minutes and be in the top three fastest times by a British male.
I train for two hours a day while also having a full time job. Luckily I can run to work so I am training as soon as I step out of the door. I train 12 times a week and run up to 130 miles. My longest run is 24 miles and I combine hill running, road and track.
Ideally I can take a month out to train at altitude in Kenya or France beforehand, but this depends on getting the time off work.
I finished 24th at the European Championships and 11th at the Commonwealth Games. They were based in Barcelona and Delhi and so were very hot and humid. Because they were so hot I tested myself much more than I would normally. I was pleasantly surprised how well I performed in the second half of the race despite the heat, and I think I can afford to be braver in races in the future and not be so conservative early on.
The Olympics is the pinnacle of any athletic career and the fact that I could be there with all of my friends (and British fans!) able to shout at me on the roads would be an incredible feeling.
Regarding an Olympic hero, Paula Radcliffe is my athletic hero but she's not had a great Olympic experience so I would have to say Steve Redgrave for his sheer determination.
