Riley McGown to race with Peter Bol, Joseph Deng at world championships

Focused on lifting heavy in the gym and building big muscles, he was a self-confessed meathead. But deep inside him, McGown had an itch he just couldn't scratch.

A talented runner growing up, the Canberra athlete felt like he hadn't fully reached his potential as an athlete.

So McGown decided to swap the bicep curls for 400 metre reps and see how far he could go.

The runner joined Des Proctor's squad at Woden and slowly went about remaking his body.

The early results were not pretty. McGown struggled to beat anyone home in his first 800m race but the youngster stuck at it.

"He showed up huffing and puffing and struggling to stay up with the 14 and 15-year-olds," Proctor said. "After three or four weeks of training, he said he was going to do an 800.

"He ran 2:16, I said 'well done, good run' but generally I've got 12-year-old girls who run that time.

"To his credit, he kept showing up to training and got a bit fitter each month."

McGown and Proctor agree expectations were initially low, but the runner kept chipping away and slowly a 2:16 800m became a 1:46 and a national title.

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Now, the middle-distance runner is preparing to represent Australia at his first world championships. McGown will line up alongside Peter Bol and Joseph Deng in the 800 metre heats on Wednesday morning.

"I'd say it's absolutely outrageous if you predicted this five years ago," McGown said. "I was still a bit heavy, hadn't gone under two minutes yet and I was watching on TV the people I'm currently having breakfast with.

"To be on the team and mixing with those guys and knowing I deserve to be here is huge. I know I've grinded it out for five years to deserve a spot and I'm soaking it up, but I would've called you crazy if you told me this would be my journey."

While McGown's progress was a slow burn at first, the dam wall came crashing down this year.

After returning from a training camp in Perisher in January, Proctor could tell something had changed. The coach correctly predicted a breakthrough national title.

Even then, McGown wasn't so sure. So unexpected was his place in the world championships team, the APS employee had to reschedule his flight home and ask for more time off work to compete in Budapest.

Competing at his first international championships, McGown is determined to soak up as much as he can.

The goal is to progress to Friday's semi-finals and finally put together a perfect race after a frustrating stint in Europe. More broadly, the 26-year-old views the event as a key stepping stone to next year's Paris Olympics.

Bol, of course, emerged as a national hero at the Tokyo Games before his world came crushing down this January when a positive drug test was leaked.

The athlete was later exonerated and the test deemed to be negative however he has struggled since returning.

Deng, on the other hand, has finally enjoyed a clean run and broke Bol's Australian record in July.

"Those guys have been at the top for a little while now," McGown said. "It seems like we've always been chasing to keep up with them. Now being their teammate, there will be some things I can pick up from them.

"Having those guys out the front to chase always makes you a better athlete.

"They do a good job pulling up the entire level of domestic running. You have no choice, those are the guys you've got to beat."

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