Still Running (weakly). Issue 48

PAST – inspiration – At the height of the Cold War, during the 1956 Melbourne Olympics, Olga Fikotova, a Czech discus thrower, literally bumped into Hal Connolly, an American hammer thrower, in the shed where their throwing implements were stored, and the sports romance of the century was born.

Connolly’s strength was remarkable given that he suffered from a withered left arm, three inches shorter than his right. Both won gold medals in those games, but their greatest challenge was in convincing the Czech authorities to let them marry, which they eventually did in Prague on 27th March 1957. Emil and Dana Zatopek, Czech gold medallists from 1952, were best man and matron of honour. It was said that the Iron Curtain momentarily melted.

Although both qualified for several more Olympic Games, neither was able to recapture the first, fine, careless rapture of Melbourne. They divorced in 1974, Olga saying that Hal’s “only love was athletics.” He died in 2010 aged 79, and Olga died on 12th April 2024, aged 91.

PRESENT – perspiration – Kenenisa Bekele should really now only appear in the Past section of this newsletter! The 41-year-old has been around seemingly forever, having won global championships since 2002. Many consider him the greatest long-distance runner ever, with 3 Olympic golds, 5 World Championship titles and 11 World Cross Country wins.

His marathon career is more patchy, but he has won two majors – Berlin in 2016 and 2019, where he ran the then-second fastest time in history of 2:01:41 – still the third fastest.

And he outfoxed Father Time in this year’s London Marathon, coming second in a new World Masters (over 40) record of 2:04:15, and now looks set for one last tilt at Olympic glory in Paris this summer.

He has never run in an Olympic marathon, but who would deny him his chance this year?

FUTURE – suggestion – In their decades-long athletic rivalry, the Ethiopians have in general always seemed able to outkick their Kenyan competitors. It may be genetic; but it could be down to the training.

Bekele, for instance, in his track racing days, where he was renowned for being unbeatable in the last lap, would run sessions like 8 x (400, 90 seconds rest, 200), with the 400s at 52-54 and the 200s at 24-25. This is pure speed training for that torrid last lap of a championship 5 or 10,000, but it can be useful for us.

Having done some of these sessions, I always feel confident if there’s a Kenyan on my shoulder with 400 to go at Alice Holt parkrun. Seriously, these “upper end” workouts can make your cruising 5km-10km pace seem easier and/or make it faster. A session of 4-6 sets of 400 at 90%, 90 seconds rest, and 200 at 100% is ideal.

As Peter Coe, father and coach of Seb, said, “Speed is important, so we never stray too far from it.”