Still Running (weakly). Issue 54

PAST – inspiration – The European Athletics Championships have been taking place in Rome this week, as they did 50 years ago in 1974, where the British team experienced unprecedented success.

It says a lot for the impression those games made on this then 16-year-old that I can recall some of David Coleman’s commentary even now.

Alan Pascoe overcame Jean-Claude Nallet of France in the 400 metres hurdles (“Nallet, rocking and rolling in lane one”), Brendan Foster won the 5,000 metres breaking away with 5 laps to go (“and that was a 60-second lap”), Ian Thompson dominated the marathon (“the athletes with no time to admire the monuments of Rome”), with Eckhard Lesse of East Germany second and 37-year-old Gaston Roelants of Belgium third (“Roelants, who’s growing visibly older as the race goes on”) and finally the men’s 4x400 metres relay team claimed gold after a stunning last lap from David Jenkins, taking over in third behind the Finns and the French (“and Jenkins has got a lot to do.”)

PRESENT – perspiration – It’s interesting to note that some of the European gold medallists this year have achieved their wins with performances inferior to their 1974 counterparts!

Whilst middle distance races can be tactical, and therefore produce marks unrepresentative of athletes’ current capabilities, the latest men’s 800 winner ran 1:44.87, whilst 50 years ago, Luciano Susanj of Yugoslavia posted 1:44.1. Ingebrigtsen won the 5000 in 13:20.11, whilst Brendan Foster ran 13:17.2 in 1974! Beaten by another Brit, eh, Jakob!

Likewise, the women’s 1500 was won in 4:04.66 this year, and 4:02.3 in 74, and the women’s shot and discus winners recorded marks two metres short of their predecessors.

FUTURE – suggestion – All this competition prompts me to reflect on what it takes to win. In 1974, our four winners took very different routes to the top step of the podium, with Thompson taking the lead very early, Foster just after midway, Pascoe leaving it late, and Jenkins deploying a fast even pace across the 400-metre lap to overtake the Finns and the French and hold off the Germans.

You’ve got to know when to go – so to speak. I vividly remember the 1981 London to Brighton Walk, when my club was in a battle for the team prize with Belgrave Harriers. About 40 miles into the 53-mile race, I asked my coach for some more yoghurt and jelly, and was told in no uncertain terms to stop thinking about food and, “get on with it,” because a Bels man was closing on me!

(This does contrast sharply with his comment halfway through the Bradford 50km the next year, when he said, “If you look behind you now, you’ll get a lovely view of Ilkley Moor.”)

So, when you reach the last quarter of your next club cross country, road relay, track or road race, monitor carefully how you feel and think about exactly how you are going to deploy what you have left over the rest of the distance, to achieve the best possible result for yourself and your club or your team.