Still Running (weakly). Issue 137

PAST – inspiration – “It’s raining.  It’s pouring down,” said Lynn Davies as he pulled back the curtains gleefully on the morning of his long jump final at the 1964 Tokyo Olympics, the Welshman delighting in weather typical of his homeland.  Later that day, with the wind and rain upsetting world record holders, Ralph Boston of the US and Igor Ter-Ovanesyan of the Soviet Union, Davies took his chance and won gold.

Rain is less of a problem for distance runners, and one can think of many occasions when they have produced their best performances in wet conditions.  Ron Hill won the 1970 Boston Marathon in the rain.  Brendan Foster won the 1978 AAA 10,000 metres in similar conditions – in a time of 27:30.3, which trimmed Dave Bedford’s national (and former world) record of 27:30.8, and which remained Big Bren’s personal best.  Paula Radcliffe won the 2002 European 10,000 in a new European record in driving rain.  (This should have been a world record, since the only times faster than Paula’s up to then were by since-discredited Chinese athletes.)

Going back to field events, I can remember Dwight Stones of the US, favourite for the 1976 Olympic high jump, trying to dry out his run-up arc with a towel in an attempt to improve on his bronze medal position.  He failed.

Less favourable for runners was the 2018 Boston, where competitors faced not only rain but also freezing temperatures and a strong headwind.  Des Linden famously won the women's race in 2:39:54, becoming the first American woman to win the marathon in 33 years.

And, in the much earlier days of cinder tracks, rain would mean puddles on the inside lanes, and ash kicked up by spikes covering the runners.  “I looked like I’d jumped into a pigsty,” said one.

PRESENT – perspiration – Running prodigies, Innes Fitzgerald and Sam Ruthe, have started the year rather well.

On New Year’s Day, Fitzgerald, who won’t turn 20 until April, set a British women’s parkrun record of 15:27 at Exmouth.

On 3rd January, New Zealander Ruthe, who turns 17 in April, ran 2:17.82 for 1000 metres, setting a national under-20 record, as well as world bests for 16- and 17-year-olds.

Neither of these races, to my knowledge, was held in the rain!

The Brit won the European under-20 Cross Country title in 2023, 2024 and 2025.  But she is just as famous for her stance on climate change.  When the World Cross Country Championships were held in Australia in 2023, she refused her place on the team, because she did not want to fly all that way.  She has also been known to take a tiring succession of train journeys to races in Europe – while the rest of the team have flown – for the same reason.

Ruthe ran a 3:58.35 mile on 19th March of last year, becoming, at the age of 15 years and 341 days, the youngest ever to break the fabled four-minute barrier.  In so doing, he surpassed Norway’s Jakob Ingebrigtsen, who was a positively geriatric 16 years and 250 days when he did it in 2017.  Ruthe has some great running genes, as his maternal grandparents, Rosemary and Trevor Wright, won 1970 Commonwealth 800 gold and 1971 European marathon silver respectively.

I very much look forward to seeing what Innes Fitzgerald and Sam Ruthe can do this year.

FUTURE – suggestion – My daughter loves running in the rain – it’s like it’s her birthday when it rains! – and I can see what she means.  I mean, you are only uncomfortably wet for the first few minutes, aren’t you?  And after that, you can’t really overheat, you don’t care that you’re getting wet, and you do feel incredibly self-righteous!

In my more competitive days, I can remember one race that was about to start in driving rain – with only me stood on the start line!  “You’re hard,” called one rival from under his coach’s umbrella by the side of the road.  Well, not really, we’re all going to be out here in it shortly anyway – why not get used to it?

Nowadays, the lightest drizzle will see half of the parkrun participants cowering beside buildings, under awnings or even in the loo – usually leaving only the Run Director and other volunteers braving the elements!

The secret of course is to warm up.  I know I drip on about this a lot, but a good warmup will not only make you far more ready to pour it on when the gun goes, but also flood your body with inner warmth, so that you won’t be uncomfortable before and just after the start.

A mile jog, and then at least four stride-outs of 30-40 seconds, pitter-pattering at faster than race pace, will set you up nicely to storm out of the starting gate.