Articles

Willis running on faith

16 March 2006
By CHRIS BARCLAY

MELBOURNE: From the late 1980s thousands of muddied New Zealand kids imagined they were Michael Jones as they tore around the garden or the local park in their rugby boots.

Nick Willis crosses the line for gold. Picture / Mark Mitchell

Now, as Nick Willis, 23, tears through Melbourne's parkland before the Commonwealth Games 1500m, he also aims to emulate the All Blacks legend - albeit in a spiritual, not physical, sense.

As a boy the lithe Wellingtonian had no pretensions to emulate the game-breaking flanker and that hasn't changed as Willis has matured into New Zealand's best middle-distance athlete since the days of John Walker, Dick Quax and Rod Dixon.

Instead it is the humble Jones' faith and commitment to Christianity that inspires Willis as he confronts the daily dilemmas associated as an athlete with an unwavering belief in God.

"I doubt there would be a New Zealander who does not think (Jones) is one of the most respected All Blacks of all time - and it would be difficult to argue spiritual beliefs did not develop his maturity and his love for all his teammates and for his family.

"Michael has used sport as a platform for fans to look and go 'Hey I never would have known public figures could be so-called soft or a little less macho'.

"That's something I aspire to do.

Nick Willis having received his gold medal. Picture / TVNZ

"It's a journey right through to the end of my life but I'm blessed that I've got on that track and people are there for me to stay on that track."

Amid the testosterone-fuelled bling of the sprinters, amid an environment where performance enhancement is often the norm, Willis has stuck solid to his beliefs - with help from his friends in and around the University of Michigan.

And now, although closer to home and family, Willis hankers to return to where his two callings - running and religion - are intertwined.

"It's been a challenge being away from America where I have a really close community of Christians supporting and praying for me every day," he told NZPA.

"I've had some struggles with my faith and it's hard when you don't have someone else to encourage you or do it together."

Willis, who has been on a scholarship since 2002, has found his niche Stateside where athletics has afforded him a pursuit in life and a podium to spread the gospel.

He attends the non-denominational Oak Point Church in suburban Michigan but his main group of fellowship is through his college.

Willis is immersed in the ministry "Campus Through Crusade For Christ" - 400 students who attend weekly meetings and smaller group bible meetings.

"My focus with that is the athletics subsidiary of the organisation called Athletes in Action."

Athletes in Action is essentially a support mechanism.

"In the US college system sportspeople have a very big profile and along with that come a lot of temptations," explained Willis, who credited the group for keeping him focused on faith.

"The older guys, when I was first there, provided a great example to me of what it was to be a man of integrity in the sport's world... how to carry yourself in such a manner that people really respect you and you can be a positive influence.

"It was really selfless of them.

"It took me a couple of years to grow my faith and become mature and now I have the pleasure of having that same opportunity to help disciple a younger crowd, to encourage them to say 'hey, sport has more sides to it than just performance'.

"You've got to be physically balanced in your life and you've got to be spiritually balanced.

"If you don't have that core belief system behind you, whatever that may be, it's going to be very difficult in the tough times."

Willis knows all about those times.

"My family have had a strong Christian background right through but I was the rebel," he said.

"I didn't like the idea of not having control of my life. There were many things I wanted to try out for my life, all the so-called wonderful things like the parties and the girls.

"Even though my family prayed against it I still went down that path."

However, at age 21 he had a spiritual coming of age.

"I wasn't pleased with the way I was living. It left a very sour taste in my mouth," he confessed.

"I was abusing a lot of situations and ruining a lot of friendships ... but I was humbled very quickly.

"I felt God tapping on my heart saying 'I'm always here... when you're willing to run to me I've got my arms wide open'."

He attributes his renewed faith for helping get over the bitterness and grief associated with his mother's death by cancer when he was four years old, while another Michael, Penn not Jones, played a pivotal role in keeping Willis on the path of enlightenment.

Willis speaks of the baseballer in almost reverential terms.

"He was in one of the more notorious party teams on the campus - they had a dancing pole in their lounge for the girls to go round and stuff.

"This guy's the captain and even though his team was doing lots of things he stood tall for what he believed in, he didn't waver from that position and even though these guys lived in a different way they still had a huge respect for him.

"He had something else about him that I'd never seen in my friends - or myself for that matter - there was a certain amount of charisma that he carried around.

"He walked tall regardless of what people thought of him and the girls and guys really respected him for that.

"He's helping me stand tall otherwise I would fail every day. I struggle with loss of power, with greed, all these things we struggle with every day."

God willing, one day he won't struggle is March 25 - the day of his final at the MCG.

Willis, for his part, believes his preparation is on track.

"My training has been going so well, I haven't had any injuries for a year.

"My strength over cross-country distances is a whole other level to what it was in the past and hopefully that will correlate to the track."