Still Running (weakly). Issue 168

PAST – inspiration – “The big Finn.  The big Finn,” shouted Dave Sharpe at the TV as we watched the 1978 European Championships 10,000 metres, which had 100 metres to go, in the London Postal Region clubhouse in Blackheath, London, after a 9km yacht handicap race walking event there.

Martti Vainio did indeed win that race, with Brendan Foster fourth and Dave Black fifth.  Foster had already run a UK record 27:30.3 at Crystal Palace that year, as well as winning the Commonwealth Games 10,000, his last major medal.

Six years later, in Los Angeles 1984, Vainio won silver in the Olympic 10,000, but was disqualified after a drugs test.  He had taken steroids earlier in the season but had stopped using them in time for his blood to be clear at the Games.

However, he had also blood-doped, meaning blood was taken earlier in the season and then put back into his system later, in order to increase its oxygen-gathering capabilities.  That blood had steroids in it – thus the positive test in LA!

The double cheating had obviously not been thought through.

This positive test, more than any other occurrence, raised doubts about Lasse Viren and his four Olympic golds in the 70s, especially as Kaarlo Maaninka, bronze (5000) and silver (10,000) in the 1980 Olympics, had also admitted to blood doping – though this was not illegal at the time. 

How systematic was the Finnish doping?

When Runners World came to pick their Runners of the Quarter Century in 1991, the male award went to Sebastian Coe (the female award went to Grete Waitz).  Viren obviously had greater success than Coe on the biggest stage (the Olympics) but RW, choosing their words carefully, thought Coe deserved it for winning four Olympic medals, “without controversy.”

(By the way, Alisa Vainio, who won the European Championship marathon by a country mile, is no relation to Martti.)

Vainio’s 1984 DQ handed the silver medal to Mike McLeod, the Elswick Harrier, and since most observers believe that the Italian gold medallist, Alberto Cova, also cheated, McLeod is hailed as the true Olympic champion in many quarters.

Footnote: Dave Sharpe was a temperamental race walker, to say the least.  More than once, he was so disgusted with a race performance that he went home and set light to his kit.  Of course, after a few days, he relented.  But, as an impoverished postman, he had little money to buy new gear, meaning we would see him turn up to the next race sporting a singlet and shorts that still bore the unmistakable signs of arson!

PRESENT – perspiration – Andreas Almgren of Sweden’s victory in this year’s European Championships 10,000 metres was majestic.  After a painfully slow opening kilometre of 3:16.93, the Swede accelerated to such effect that he ran the second half in 13:17.74 and eventually clocked 27:23.44 to beat the long-standing championship record – 27:30.99 set by none other than Martti Vainio’s in 1978!

However, I do despair at the standard of the commentary with more than one of the BBC crew saying how strange it was that this title had not been successfully defended since Jurgen Haase of East Germany (1966-1969).  The European Championships back then had been consistently every four years, with 1966, then 1969 and 1971, being an aberration. 

But the Europeans are now every other year: some runners, Mo Farah among them, have won more than one championship, but not in consecutive games.  You see, alternate European Championships now take place in Olympic year, usually just before what many would call ‘the main event’.  To defend a 10,000 title, then, someone would have to run 25 laps at hard championship pace just before trying to win the greatest prize of all.

Of course they are not going to do that!

Farah, for example, won in 2010 and 2014, non-Olympic years.

FUTURE – suggestion – The How-To-Plot-Your-Running plot thickens!  During the week, a member of my adoring public explained to me how he keeps track of his runs and races.

He uses Strava, but, as a Strava subscriber, he has just been able to link his Strava data into Claude, the AI thingy.

Now, this gentleman is an ambitious runner, willing to put in the hard work, and he has been undertaking interval sessions for the past few weeks – specifically, 3-minute efforts.

What is interesting – even to me! – is that Claude analysed all this and concluded that he was running his intervals too slowly – he was more concerned with finishing them than putting in the effort at the pace that would precipitate improvement.

I know from other sources that Claude – and other AI tools – will be critical if they need to be.  No bad thing.  For years, I have been critical of some of my athletes when I thought they warranted it.  I am looking at you, Sam.  They have responded to my judgements with varying degrees of agreement and obedience, but perhaps now, faced with something as objective a Claude, more will fall into line!!

Who would have thought you’d get Strava and AI advice from me?!

Thank you, Justin!