Alex Bell Rediscovering the Joy of Running on the Road

Less than two years ago Alex Bell was sitting on a podium that felt more like a pause button than a finish line. She’d just run an Olympic‑final 800 m in a blistering 1:57, but the spark that once made her sprint for the tape had dimmed. In hindsight she says the only regret is that the change didn’t happen sooner.

So she did something most people would call “a bit crazy” – she swapped the oval for the open road. It started as curiosity, a simple “what if?” that grew into a full‑blown love affair. Now she’s training for 13.1 miles instead of two laps, and the excitement she’s feeling is something she thought was lost forever.

On Sunday in Copenhagen, Bell will line up beside Samantha Harrison as part of a two‑pronged British attack in the women’s half‑marathon at the World Road Running Championships. No one really knows how fast she can go over that distance yet, and that uncertainty is part of the thrill. “It’s definitely been a surprise how quickly the times have been dropping,” she laughed, referring to the “new sport of mine”.

Her road résumé is already impressive: a half‑marathon personal best of 69:35 set in Dubai just seven months ago, and a crisp 30:57 for 10 km in Valencia back in January. Those numbers feel like a promise, not a pressure. “I’m excited to race,” she says, a simple statement that sums up a feeling she missed in the 800 m – the pure joy of competing again.

Looking ahead, Bell’s eyes are set on a marathon debut later this year. She admits she’s still figuring out the mileage, the fueling, the mental grind of 26.2 miles, but that’s exactly why she’s hungry. The road feels fresh, the possibilities endless, and for the first time in a long while she’s not just running – she’s falling in love with the sport all over again.