Still Running (weakly). Issue 67

PAST – inspiration – The old man on the back straight waved his yellow towel as Italian security police converged upon him – and Herb Elliott duly accelerated. 6th September saw the 64thanniversary of the Australian’s victory in the 1960 Rome Olympic 1500. He won in a new world record by nearly three seconds! And the old man was Percy Cerutty, his coach, signalling that he had a chance at that record.

Uniquely unbeaten over 1500 and the mile through his entire senior career, perhaps Elliott’s greatest race was in Dublin in 1958, where he set a world mile record of 3:54.5 (eclipsing Derek Ibbotson’s previous record of 3:57.2) in leading four other men under the magic four-minute barrier.

PRESENT – perspiration – Last week, I won a race! You’ll be astonished to learn that it wasn’t the Zurich Diamond League 1500 against Jakob Ingebrigtsen, Josh Kerr and Olympic champ Cole Hocker, but my club’s yacht handicap. A yacht handicap is where the slowest runner (your correspondent) is set off first, all the way back to the fastest runners last.

I was given a generous handicap, so I realised there was a chance, which unfortunately meant I had to make a bit of an effort. And despite the paranoia-inducing nature of a yacht handicap, I stayed in front to the line!

This may well be my last ever “win.” I am only ever going to have a chance with handicaps like this; my club’s is the only one I do; and the handicapper certainly won’t be as nice next time!

A sobering thought…………but a moment to savour!

FUTURE – suggestion – Knowing my handicap – and thus my opportunity – three days before the race meant 72 hours of nerves and misgivings.

We’ve all been there. When a challenge is coming up – a possible win, a potential personal best – we naturally don’t want to face it. Because we know it’s going to be hard.

Last week, I had to talk myself through the process – and this is what I would advise anyone to do. OK, don’t think about the actual race too much. Rest or go easy in the days before; it starts at 6, so have something light to eat at 3; get there with time to spare; ignore the rain – don’t overdress; warm up; and put yourself there on the start line.

During the race, there were still moments when I doubted my ability to do it, but if you keep the faith, the achievement that you deserve will unfold before you.

And it will be all the sweeter for the mental agony your nerves have piled on top of your physical pain!