Dylan

"Rage, rage against the dying of the light."

Dylan Thomas didn't know what he was starting by penning those words. At my relatively tender age I shouldn't even be contemplating them but so many things have happened to my mind and body that there is a limit to how much fight I have in me. Pathetic really compared to some others I know, including two octogenarians who are still enjoying their running (as has been recorded on this blog), plus another friend who still runs despite the ravages of cancer. There is a limit to how much I can put up with though; my body is battered, disintegrating like a badly packed kebab.

Anyway, I've hung in there this autumn and despite my better judgement have completed and, I have to say, enjoyed, another two mob matches. Bone dry conditions clearly helped as I eased my aching body across Wimbledon Common against Thames Hare & Hounds and in Richmond Park, not chasing You Tube's famous dog Benson but as part of Ranelagh's winning team against the Heathens. I even won the handicap in the park thanks to my cunning plan of running so slowly in the last two years. Before both I ran another Parkrun in Swindon (see picture), smashing the 20 minute barrier once again!

A couple of things have caught my eye in recent weeks. Firstly, I was really interested to read in AW that top international cyclist Emma Pooley, who won the world time trial championships in 2010 and will be an integral part of the women's team for next year's Olympic road race, ran in the Lakeland Trail 14km race at Helvellyn in November. What caught my eye was that she not only won the race but she beat Susan Partridge, Britain's top marathoner in 2011 thanks to her performance in the World Championships in Daegu. That says an awful lot about the fitness levels and professionalism of British cycling right now.

Secondly, hard training sessions ... a piece in AW charted some athletes' toughest sessions; my favourite was top ultra runner Jez Bragg who cited 3 x Snowdon (yes, the highest mountain in Wales) as part of his build up to major races - that's an impressive hill session and makes my old 10 x Richmond Hill look pretty pathetic. Another set of sessions that impressed, albeit with a tinge of sadness, was that of George Dayantis: the England ultra distance international wrote about his build up to a big 100km race in a recent Road Runners Club newsletter, it involved successive long Sunday runs of 50km, 60km, 70km. The sadness is that earlier this year he died.

The nearest I got to anything like these sessions was in a Dutch race I did five times with Ranelagh. The Barendrecht 100km track relay involved a four man team each running 62 x 400m with 3½ minutes recovery (in my best year I averaged 68 seconds). We won it four times with a best time of 4hr 46m (work it out in marathon terms, it's pretty rapid). The picture shows us winning in 1982 with, from left, Simon Collingridge, me, Simon Hedger & Steve Pautard. Our record breaking team was the same apart from Mike Riley replacing Hedger; I was slightly slower than Collingridge, my flatmate at the time - so I wasn't even the fastest runner in my house! Simon, like me, has been featured in Ranelagh's "12 of the best" link which is reproduced here (more to come, including Hugh Jones hopefully): http://www.ranelagh-harriers.com/interviews.html

More soon on my thoughts on the London Olympics ... oh dear!

Give Peas a Chance

Should we be worried about education standards or should we just admire the wit of this bizarre piece of graffiti spotted adorned on a railway bridge above the M25 last weekend? I prefer to think it's the latter: having wrapped many frozen packets of the little green orbs around various parts of my broken body over the years, I've clearly not given the poor mites a chance to give pleasure on the dinner table where they belong, preferably pressed and mixed in with mashed potato alongside a nice piece of (batterless) fish.

It was on my way to a grand occasion that took me under the graffiti laden bridge. Of the four other clubs Ranelagh race every year in mob matches, Orion Harriers is much the youngest (Thames Hare & Hounds being the oldest, having been founded around 1867). Orion was founded in 1911, so are celebrating their centenary this year. Rather than the usual two teams competing, all five members of this elite club were invited to a mass mob match, with the extra celebration of sampling Orion's new clubhouse for the first time (some of us remember outside washing facilities from many years ago). Epping Forest was looking a true picture on a beautiful sunny autumnal day. More importantly, following an unseasonally warm and dry spell the usual quagmire conditions were nowhere to be seen. You cannot believe what a difference that made to an old crock like me!

As regular readers (surely there can't be any ...) will know, my training has been dire for two years now and the cumulative effect of this is really digging in, irrespective of what aches & pains are flavour of the month (for what it's worth, currently both Achilles, one shoulder and my left big toe, don't even ask, I've no idea). Having dropped Claudie off at East Midlands airport to visit her stricken mother, I took the opportunity to meet up with old friend, Andy Bradley, who lives nearby. This was just two days before the mob match so I suggested to Andy that we had a run before the far more pleasurable aspects of Derbyshire life, namely an old fashioned pub and a pint or two of Marstons Pedigree. After walking up the nearest hill from Chevin Road, we started our run on a lovely high level track looking across the Peak District, then ran down through some meadows and back alongside the River Derwent. It was a pleasant 45 minutes and gave me confidence that maybe another 'mob' was viable.

Winner and runner-up of the Chevin '5'

To the race itself: after a few team photos, speeches and traditional club cries, around 200 took to the one lap circuit through the forest. As anticipated I was able to run at a reasonable pace on the flat stretches but really struggled on the many hills. A finishing position of 73rd had very little merit other than being one of the few I've not previously managed over my 144 mobs (every position between 1 and 35 has been encountered at least once). Orion, of course, won the team race comfortably, which is at it should be. A commemorative mug and fine free tea spread was very welcome as was the beer at a local hostelry before the journey home.

Thanks to Orion's centenary I have to get my aching body through five rather than the usual four mobs this winter. Hopefully the rain will stay away all winter ...

Ed Whitlock

This man just becomes ever more amazing. Yesterday in Toronto Ed ran a 3.15.54 marathon ... he is 80 years old and broke his own world V80 record by 10 minutes, which in itself was another 15 minutes better than the previous best. Ed - seen here with me and Dutch friend Alex in Rotterdam five years ago - is a lovely self effacing character who just loves running.

I was pretty impressed to note last night that just a few hours after his great performance it had been updated to Wikipedia. Who does these things ...?

In the World Masters Championships in Sacramento, California this year Ed won the V80 1,500 by 90 seconds in 5.48; the 5,000 by 4 minutes in 21.32 and the 10,000 by 11 minutes in 42.39, all three times were world records of course.

He invariably wears his Ranelagh vest when racing even though his link with our club is relatively tenuous: he ran once or twice in the 60's before emigrating to Canada. He's come down to the club a couple of times in recent years and been royally treated. What a man!

Eat more cake

In one of the weekend supplements recently I read an interview with the universally popular Michael Johnson - why can't all sports tv commentators say what they really think rather than what they feel viewers want to hear? - about his daily routine. In a move that may lose him a few admirers, he stated that both when he was an elite athlete and now that he's a relative couch potato, he eats a lot of burgers. Shock, horror! Today's 'new' runners will be amazed that an elite athlete did such a thing. Steve Cram was the same, loved his burgers. One of the great US marathoners of the 70's (either Frank Shorter or Bill Rodgers) came out with the great phrase when interviewed that he was on a seafood diet: no, he wasn't a Rick Stein fanatic, but such was his hunger that when he could see food he would eat it! The point being that to sustain big mileage and hard training he had to put fuel back into the engine, thus lots of protein, carbohydrates and calories, nothing scientific. You cannot be an Olympic marathon champion on carrot sticks alone.

I was in the local garden centre recently on a midweek day off and stopped off with Claudie for a coffee. On the counter were cakes and pastries perfect for a runner (so not for me!), but I couldn't resist and got stuck in to both mine and half of Claudie's. Brought back memories of lunchtime training runs in London followed by a couple of pints and a big salt beef sandwich in the pub, before dropping in to the deli on way back to the office for a couple of buns. Happy days.

My 'running' went back on hold in early August when my left 'good' Achilles popped and I had to abort a three mile run halfway through and walk back. Six weeks off completely and I'm now back with some gentle jogging. For the first time I tried Kinesio taping, as seen on a lot of athletes these days (Lisa Dobriskey was covered in the stuff at the World Champs), and although a bit of a cynic I have to state that the pain eased a lot quicker than I expected and certainly quicker than ever before. Time will tell if there's real improvement.

Finally, I read a very sad story in the paper this weekend and one that all we runners should take note of. Bill Smith, a 75 year old veteran member of Clayton-le-Moors Harriers (Ron Hill's club) and a well known figure in fell running circles (he'd written a book on the subject), was found dead in a peat bog on Saddle Fell in the Trough of Bowland. The area was so remote that his body wasn't discovered for three weeks - he'd apparently fallen whilst on a training run. Two things: when going out running alone, particularly if off road, tell someone your planned route (the fell may have been particularly remote but I can think of plenty of places within five miles of my home where I've run and never seen a soul); secondly have some form of identification on you. You just never know ...

Summer of sport

This is a running blog intended to chart my experiences in this great sport. Sadly there have been precious few running happenings over the last two years hence big gaps in my musings. There is little that can be written about Parkruns, the only events I've partaken in; they are the ultimate fun runs with usually 99% outside 20 minutes.

Anyway, following on from last year's July odyssey following/supporting athletics/athletes around Europe - Cork, Paris, Barcelona - I have been to a trio of big events in recent times, although only one was outside the UK and they were different sports. I started with an excellent day on Wimbledon's Centre Court (Murray; Nadal v Del Potro; Williams, V) with Claudie, courtesy of tickets from running mate Andy Bradley; then forayed down to the French Riviera and a new country for me, Monaco, for the Diamond League athletics meeting; finally to the Cheltenham Cricket Festival for Glos v Surrey. All three were played out in glorious summer sunshine, a real bonus in our fickle weather cycles.

Add to these big events the incomparable Tour de France, superbly compered by ITV4 (athletics broadcasters take note), the ever enjoyable British Open and some exciting Formula One races (I walked through Monaco's F1 tunnel, quite an experience) and you have the usual wonderful summer of sport with still the World Athletics Champs to come.
Whilst both the tennis and cricket were enjoyable, the fitness levels of the male tennis players being of particular interest, the highlight was Monaco. The Diamond League is certainly well marketed - it clearly helps when Usain Bolt is participating - and has to be the best value for money in sport with our tickets, in row one just after the finish line, a mere €6. (I doubt that this week's Diamond League at Crystal Palace will be quite such good value but Monaco was clearly priced to ensure a full house.) The super cool Phillips Idowu was on our plane, he's certainly not the archetypal travelling international athlete, dressed more like a break dancer.

Highlight of the meeting was Mo Farah's superb 12:53 UK 5000 metre record. As is his wont these days, he lay well off the fast pace in the early laps, which I thought a little dangerous given the quality of the field - all the top Africans bar Bekele, plus Rupp, Lagat and Solinsky from the USA - but when the pacemakers pulled out the field concertinaed as the lap times dropped a few seconds from the 62s that were being churned out. Farah then took charge and looked dominant as he outsprinted Lagat down the home straight whilst the other two Americans both tripped over African legs and dropped out of the race, Solinsky taking his anger out on a pot plant and an advertising hording with his fist / foot (not the first fight of the night either ...).

Is Farah's breakthrough this year all down to his move to Alberto Salazar's group in America? I don't think so; it has clearly helped, not least in lifestyle in comparison to Kenya for him and his young family. The breakthrough was coming anyway: I was in Barcelona for his superb win in the European 5000. As with all running, development takes time as conditioning kicks in (club runners be patient and learn!). I just hope that the famed hard task master Salazar gets the balance right and Mo doesn't get tipped over the precipice. Interesting times ahead for the little guy.

The Monaco meeting built to a wonderful crescendo with Bolt and local hero Christophe LeMaitre on the start line of the 100m at the same time as France's other hero, Renaud Lavillenie was attempting 6.07 in the pole vault at the far end of the stadium and right in front of us, the amazing diva Blanka Vlasic was going for 2.01 in the high jump. Then instead of the steeplechase being 'after the Lord Mayor's show' it was an incredibly fast three way race with Brimin Kipruto (Kenyan of course) missing the world record by 0.01 of a second in 7:53.64. Wonderful stuff all for €6 and we got fireworks at the end. I highly recommend Diamond League meets, this was my second, they make for a great weekend away. In a little under three hours there is non-stop track and field action from the finest athletes in the world and there are no interruptions for inane talk from Colin Jackson & Jonathan Edwards - yes you actually get to see field and longer track events develop.

... and the fight? At the end of the men's 1500 and again right in front of us, two French team mates of North African origin, Mehdi Baala and Mahiedine Mekhissi, squared up. First Baala head butted his adversary then they both threw an avalance of punches at each other. There was nothing about that in the programme.

Gavin Jones, World Champion

Yesterday my old Ranelagh chum Gavin Jones, who now lives in Rome, won the World Masters V50 marathon in Sacramento, California in 2.40.12. It was close, he only won by 25 seconds. Really chuffed, especially as I suggested last year that he should enter; my last words to him a few days ago were "you can win this".

Gavin's pictured at the bottom of this blog: he's the one with hair in the Ranelagh centenary picture and without hair 25 years later!

As I had to be in Swindon on Saturday, I had a pleasant potter around the Parkrun, smashing the 20 minute barrier in the rain and wind. No damage appears to have resulted. Picture shows strength of the wind as well as the work still needed to be done: have I really already lost 1½ stone?!

Another setback

Time to join in the general haranguing of LOCOG about the dire organisation of the Olympic ticketing set-up? After all I got no tickets at all ... it has to be stated that I didn't actually apply for any so this could have had a bearing on the absolute zero achieved. So, was it an almighty cock up? Frankly, no. If the gullible British public were willing to put up hundreds of pounds on their credit card (Visa, of course, Mastercard not accepted as they are not sponsors of the Olympics, that great amateur sporting event) on the off chance of getting tickets for nondescript morning heats of athletics or Greco-Roman wrestling, more fool them. Don't complain if you got the tickets you didn't want (why apply?) or none at all, that's life. What is the whole thing about wanting tickets, any tickets? Surely you only go to watch something if you are interested in it. What is the point in someone going to the high diving, a very technical event, if they know nothing about the sport other than the fact that some spotty teenager from GB is a medal contender? By the very nature of the event there are not many seats so an outsider buying a ticket means that someone with a great interest in the sport can't get in. That's wrong and is the same in all the sports. Why are people willing to pay hundreds of pounds for the 100m final, an event that lasts less than 10 seconds? It's beyond me. Presumably it's just to say, 'I was there' and impress their friends.


All this makes me want to write about the total lack of awareness about athletics from within athletics clubs these days, but that can wait for another day.


So, my setback has nothing to do with the Olympics. As previously reported I've been building my running up incredibly gradually and with real patience, so what happened last Sunday was very frustrating. I went out for an easy 20 minute potter around town; it was going perfectly pleasantly with no issues until in one stride I felt my left Achilles 'pop'. All my problems in recent times have been with the right Achilles so this was out of the blue and for no apparent reason. Of course I was at the furthest point from home, namely 10 minutes, so struggled home before applying ice. Next day was hobbling about something rotten. It's eased in recent days but I have absolutely no confidence in going out running again. It seems my body is telling me something: broken body, broken mind. Time to stop.

"a writer (runner) has a quiet, inner motivation, and doesn't seek validation in the outwardly visible." Another corker from Haruki Murakami in his philosophical tome What I talk about when I talk about running.


Anyway, off to Wimbledon tomorrow. Lucky enough to get Centre Court tickets so will see Andy, Rafa & Venus amongst others. Never been to this hallowed turf - other that to play cricket at the adjoining Aorangi Park many years ago (memories: big defeat, lots of beers, major thunderstorm over corrugated iron shed bar around midnight) - although just missed out on being a ball boy as our school provided such youngsters. As I was in school cricket team I couldn't be spared on Saturdays (something to do with my wicked inswinging yorkers it appears) so missed out. Looking forward to the tennis: Murray is a fascinating character and gets a mixed press but I admire his honesty and dedication. There are a lot of similarities with running, the only way to succeed is to be single-minded, ruthless and tough. Murray (& Radcliffe in running) have this attitude, so many others who are far more talented than these two don't have it. As I've said so many times to people, it's all about dedication over the long term.


Finally, it's July this week and the bi-annual world masters athletics champs in Sacramento, USA. I ran in the last version in Finland two years ago, my last proper race. I have high hopes for my old Ranelagh chum Gavin Jones (no. 80 in picture), British but living in Rome, to come home with a gold medal in the V50 marathon. Would love to be there myself but Gavin's the man and gold beckons.

Race for Life

Went for a run yesterday and got as far as Cirencester Park. With regular runs throughout 2011, I'm at least building some sort of base without overstretching myself: started with five minute jogs then a couple of months at 10-15 minutes a couple of times a week; now can manage up to 30 mins although mostly easy runs around 15-20 mins only. No real change healthwise as everything hurts from head to Achilles, but weight still dropping slowly and it's so lovely just to be able to run.

In the park I stumbled across a mass of pink as (mainly) ladies gathered for the 5km Race for Life. One small group of half a dozen were congregated behind one of the park's many stone follies; as I reached them I realised they were having a smoke before the race. Killing themselves whilst trying to save others, a juxtaposition if ever there was one. My first reaction was what idiots they were but then I decided that their outing was pretty impressive and deserved of praise. Would like to know what time they ran and what state they were in at the end, mind.

Talking of smokers, a promised mention for Sue Soar, the aunt of one of my oldest mates Rob Wise (I once took 5-14 as we skittled his U14 school team out for about 30, although he insists that he cover drove me to the boundary, about as likely as Rob managing to run as well as he talks about running [he's a scholar on the sport and would make a great coach]). Sue was born in 1939 and although she's run for many years, was a smoker until just three years ago. Since turning 70 she has run two marathons - both in her home town of Brighton - ranking top FV70 in the country in 2010 with 4.23.36 and to date 2nd nationally this year with 4.35.16 on a scorching hot day. As with Ed Whitlock in Canada (see previous blogs), Sue's running is based on lots of lsd (long steady distance) either on Brighton's seafront or on the beautiful South Downs overlooking the town. That's the way to do it.

Lifestyle

My dad was a chef and concocted some wonderful meals at home (as did mum!). I love good food & fine wine but when cooking, especially if it's just for myself as was the case recently when Claudie went off to France, the pleasure gained from eating the meal seems disproportionate to the time taken preparing it (and then clearing up afterwards). It's the same in the garden: loads of hard work planting, weeding, watering, all for a plant to flower for a few days before wilting - or in my case last night when cutting the lawn, slicing the top off the tulip - and then not flowering again for another 12 months. We usually get a wonderful array of colours in early May before an Atlantic front storms in bringing wind and heavy rain and flattening everything in the garden. It all seems rather futile putting the work in.

The reality, of course, is that if you stick to the cooking and spend lots of time in the garden week in week out, year after year, then the evidence is clear for all to see beyond the occasional banquet of flowering bed of tulips or plate of fine cuisine: a consistently high quality kitchen / garden. The exact same scenario exists in running. To be successful - however that is judged - a distance runner needs to be patient, run lots of miles and think long term. How do you get to the top at snooker? Spend hours every day playing frame after frame. Who gets to play at the Masters golf? Someone who plays every day for years on end hitting thousands of shots. It's simple, to paraphrase Steve Cram: if you want to be a better runner, run more miles.

It frustrates me enormously that people profess to want to improve as runners yet are not willing to learn from what we old codgers did 30 years ago when standards were so much higher. In basic terms we all worked out what routine was best for us, stuck to that routine throughout the year (letting nothing get in the way of it), and got on with some solid consistent week on week training with lots of racing. I raced virtually every week but plenty of these were just what runners today call tempo runs. This picture is from the Ranelagh ½ Marathon in 1984 where I started very steadily, enjoyed some banter with clubmates and ran round in 71 mins, taking four minutes out of Mike McClachlan, seen here with me at five miles. As ever a few pints were quaffed in the evening.

We also all had a perception of what was considered a decent time; today's runners need to raise their own beliefs so that they can run much faster times.

Thankfully, at Cirencester there is now a group of a dozen or so runners developing quite well. We've done some winter sessions as a group and by running together and pushing & encouraging each other beyond the comfort zone, improvements are coming. We finished the winter with a tough 30 minute paurlauf on the manicured lawns of the Royal Agricultural College, it might be my last session with the club but at least it's one that gives me belief that there is hope for the future of the sport.

Last October I wrote about my old Ranelagh colleague Ed Whitlock. Last Sunday he broke the world V80 marathon record with 3.25.40 in Rotterdam, yes he's 80 years old. In London this weekend only 10% of the field will beat this time. There's no great secret with Ed, he just loves running, goes out every day (generally laps of the local graveyard rather ironically) for long steady runs. He has no special diet, never has a massage and has had Achilles problems for many years (know the feeling!).

It's a lifestyle decision.

Blackheath

Conditions were at their traditional best for the Blackheath mob match. In my 37 years (143 races) of mobs, only one has been cancelled due to the weather, the fixture at Blackheath in January 1987 after blizzards had swept across the country (just looked up the www: apparently 12-14th January 1987 was the coldest spell of weather in southern England since 1740). Two years earlier another mob at Blackheath had to be severely shortened due to heavy, drifting snow, although it didn't put people off as a near record 187 toed the line (Simon Collingridge and I came home equal first after 40 mins of very heavy going). It's hard to believe health & safety allowing races to go ahead in such conditions these days! (A week after that race I ran in the M25 '10' before the motorway opened and in a blizzard; every time I drive along the Leatherhead section I remember what was a very tough, hilly course.)


Anyway, there was no snow this year on the toughest of the mob courses, but plenty of the wet stuff - the course was a quagmire. I had to dig out my Helly Hansen off roaders rather than rely on the comfort of standard trainers. This was a bit of a worry for the Achilles. Despite no semblance of any fitness I had a plan and it worked relatively well. The race started with a half mile circuit of a hilly field before needing to climb a stile (the first of many on the course) leading to narrow footpaths and open countryside. This always causes a bottleneck so, a bit like all those idiots who go off far too fast in the London Marathon so that they can be on tv, I went off at a pace which was in no way commensurate to my rightful place in the field. It worked as I got field position and was able to keep up with those around me before the hills inevitably slowed my progress. It was a bit depressing being overtaken by so many but my strategy of walking the many hills and running the relatively flat stages got me a place in the top half of the field. I certainly couldn't have hoped for any better. The steep downhills actually caused me the most problems, the pounding being no good at all for Achilles and abdomen. On my last outing on this course I was 3rd overall and 13 minutes faster ... but it was very muddy this year!

A number of old clubmates not seen for quite a while appeared: Gordon Whitson from Athens, Paul Keen (Sheffield), John Pratt and Neil Walford (Brighton), so it was quite a sociable occasion in Blackheath's magnificent clubhouse as we talked, supped a beer (after eating enormous runners cakes) and watched some six nations rugby on tv.

Finally this time, with London Marathon just round the corner I recently stumbled upon this great quote from Jerome Drayton, a top Canadian marathoner (2:09) from the 60's: "to describe the agony of a marathon to someone who's never run it is like trying to explain colour to someone who was born blind."

Weight loss at last

Latest health bulletin on this ailing ex-athlete has a slightly more positive bent to it. Since Christmas I have lost 11lbs. Without going on a diet, I have cut out all the rubbish snacks, toast & jam in the morning and second helpings of dinner. I also didn't drink at all in January and since starting back am only doing so in moderation, concentrating on quality not quantity. Thus just quaffing fine Burgundy & Claret from France, Spanish Gran Reserva and Italian Barolo at meal times. Also generally leaving the calorie busting beer alone, although had a rather tasty 7º proof Belgian beer (just the one) in Holland last week and a fine pint of Timothy Taylor's with Andy Bradley in Derbyshire today.

I have also been running, no great distances but regular outings that create structure and routine which the body likes. Built up over January to regular 15-20 minute potters four times a week. This only gives 10 miles a week but is at least a start. In true Paul Barlowesque fashion my mileage has built up in tiny incremental increases but this appears to be working. In Holland last week (now that's what I call a sand dune) I managed a 41 minute easy run with Michelle after her 10km win and since then have had the confidence to do two 30 minute efforts. My injury woes have not disappeared - my Achilles is so bad that about an hour after each run, and for the rest of the day, I am limping despite a cold shower and ice, and I've still got abdominal pains and joint issues - but I see my priority right now to reduce my weight and therefore the pressure on my pins. Maybe then the eccentric exercises I do to ease the Achilles will start to work. I also have the small issue of a mob match on Blackheath's brute of a course this Saturday.
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One of the great pleasures of being running fit and healthy is to be able to eat & drink without any worries; this is what I aspire to. As Haruki Murakami wrote in his book, What I talk about when I talk about Running:
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"if you live in Boston, Samuel Adams draft beer and Dunkin' Donuts are essentials of life. I discovered to my delight that even these indulgences can be offset by persistent exercise."
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Sounds good to me. I still have a long way to go having put on well in excess of two stone, but a start has been made and I'm confident that I can now complete another full mob match season on Saturday.

Olympic stadium

A hot potato if ever there was one; I guess it's time I put in my sixpence worth although most readers probably won't like it. Sadly, politics and money get in the way once again.

To go back to square one, the 2012 Olympics should not have been handed to London, they should have gone to Paris where most of the infrastructure was already in place and the total cost would have been within some sort of proportion. The UK Government now has a noose around its neck; it's committed to supplying a fully (i.e. over) funded Games whilst putting the population through severe austerity measures. All for the sake of three weeks sport. As could easily have been predicted when the budget figures were quoted at the time of bidding, the cost of staging this jamboree will be billions above estimate, money that could have been used around the country to fund grass roots sport. Everybody knew that would be the case but of course once the winner was announced it was too late to go back on it. Yes, there will be some regeneration in the East End of London, not before time, but this could have been done at a fraction of the cost of staging the Olympics. Why the excitement at staging the Games? I would far rather hop across to Paris than struggle to Stratford, that's if I could get a ticket. I find it incredible that the British Athletics Supporters Club, who travel all over the world to watch their beloved sport, are not getting any preferential treatment in terms of ticket allocation. How many true athletics (or cycling, swimming, boxing etc) fans will get to see their favoured events?

In a previous blog I've said what I think about the marathon not finishing inside the stadium. Appalling decision.

The bid team apparently promised that there would be an athletics legacy at the Olympic stadium. Well, they have reneged on most things so one more won't matter. Spurs or West Ham? All the top athletes, uk:athletics and other influential people have stated that there can be no argument about which bid to accept, it has to be West Ham's because the stadium must retain an athletics track. Thankfully, one or two of the more intelligent people on this planet - Brian Moore and John Bicourt for example (I know intelligence is all relative) - disagree; I'm on their side. Do the athletes think that they'll be able to turn up and train at the stadium any day of the week? If so they are away with the fairies. Athletics will be the poor relation to football. It will be a football stadium which allows athletics as a secondary sport on some occasions. From an athletics point of view the stadium will become a white elephant.

Why not take Spurs' money and build a brand new stadium solely for the use of athletics? It can become a centre of excellence and be used on a regular basis. Spurs propose to rebuild Crystal Palace. Sounds good but as someone who has travelled there on numerous occasions I think I speak for the majority when I say that it's in the wrong place! As with Wembley (another white elephant) and Twickenham, why do we insist on building these massive stadiums in built-up areas? In America most stadia are built right by major highways. My choice would be just outside the M25 corridor, maybe adjoining the M40. This would still be known as a London arena (important for the perception of foreigners); be a short drive from Heathrow and be easily accessible from all parts of the country via the motorway system. I rest my case.

Bill Snelgrove

Via Jerry Watson's facebook page I was shocked to learn the tragic news that my old friend Bill Snelgrove has died at the age of 54. He had a stroke in Sydney, Australia having been down there watching the Ashes cricket. This is awful news, Bill was a lovely bloke and someone I had known for 30 years. We shared common interests - cricket, running, beer - so always had lots to talk about even though we didn't see each other very often in recent times.

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Bill ran for Thames Hare & Hounds, great rivals of Ranelagh - Thames occupied Wimbledon Common, where I did all my school running, and Ranelagh the adjoining Richmond Park - and throughout the 80's mob matches between the two teams were very close. Thames, for all their numerous Oxbridge alumni, appeared always to be bad on timekeeping, both in terms of starting their races at the alloted 3pm and in recording results (pre computer age), with the consequence that results were always subject to intense scrutiny in the pub afterwards. I remember one year when we were still arguing who won when the bell went for last orders. I made many friends at Thames during these wonderful years and Bill was most definitely one of them.

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Bill and I were of similar standard and had some great battles although I'd have to say that on balance he got the better of me (although not always!). With a sub 50 min pb at 10 miles - the picture shows him in the Woking '10' in 1985 - and a 2.19 marathon to his credit, his running credentials were impressive and would, of course, be even more so with today's poorer standards. My running results database (sad, I know, but useful) records three races won by Bill, an inter-club fixture between Thames, Ranelagh and Cambridge University in '85, a 5000m track race in '86 and the Ranelagh Half Marathon in '92. He would have won other races, although as alluded to already, standards were such that winning races was not easy in those days. We raced each other at numerous mob matches over the years, the last time on Wimbledon Common in November 2009 where over a post race drink he regaled me with some stories from his travels ...

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When I first knew Bill he worked for Shell in central London. Like me he used to train at lunchtimes, usually with Thames team mates Andy Thomas and Phil Gilbert amongst others. I'd usually go out running with Bill Harvey (God, he pushed me hard!) and we'd often see the Thames boys, sometimes joining up with them but generally just a cursory wave as we closed down from opposite directions in Hyde Park and then accelerated away at whatever 2 x 11mph equates to (Bill H is a mathematician, I'll ask him next time I see him, which is bound to be in a bar rather than a changing room). I digress ...

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We all lead rather mundane lives: sleep, work, recreation, socialise. Most of us do nothing about it. Bill was different and decided, from memory in the late 80's, to give up his good job, rent out his house and travel. To cut a long story short he decided to follow England's cricket team on foreign tours, yes he was one of the original Barmy Army. He would then come home for the summer, live with his parents, do some work then embark on another tour. The last time I saw him he proudly stated that he'd not missed an England foreign Test match for, I think he said, something like 15 years. According to the Army he saw 70 consecutive away Tests, an astonishing feat: http://www.barmyarmy.com/barmynews/index.php?m=barmyfull&iNewsID=516 He made friends all over the world and had some wonderful adventures. At least he died knowing that England had performed at their best for many, many years in retaining the Ashes.

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"At least we got our memory" thus sang the also recently lost Gerry Rafferty. Rest in Peace my friend. Another one gone. Sad times.

Edinburgh

Watched the xc from a snowbound Edinburgh on tv today and thoroughly enjoyed it. I've not always been a great fan of the Great Run series of races but don't have the time, space or inclination to go into that here. The idea of spicing up the men's race with a three way, six to score international (GB v Europe v USA, plus GB U23) was excellent, especially as the teams, excepting the Europeans, wore national vests rather than the odious sight of 90% of the top half of the field all wearing the same sponsors purple, a bit like Liverpool playing Manchester United with all 22 players wearing red (mind, it might give the Merseysiders more of a chance). It does seem strange to me that despite the top athletes around the world being sponsored by a handful of different shoe companies, it is always the purple lot - no names as I don't get any advertising revenue on this site - who get onto the start line. Sinister or what?

Anyway back to the races. The overnight snow made it perfect for the tv cameras without impacting (!) too much on the conditions for the runners. The hill looked tough - I'd definitely be walking up that one in my current condition - and helped make all three into good competitive races. Farah looked supreme and I just hope his change of plan this year - he's going to train in the USA - works well. I think he can medal in Korea in August but can he top the rostrum? He's certainly moved his running onto a new level in the last year (see below). The final positive change in Edinburgh was Chris Thompson guesting in the commentary box with the two geordies. What a character he is although probably too much of a liability for the producers. You got the impression that he was about to either exhale an expletive or tell a raunchy joke. Not sure big Bren knew how to take him! Hopefully he'll also have another progressive year, kicking off with another great 10,000 at that superb meet at Stanford (end May?)

So with a perfect link, Edinburgh being a major place to celebrate hogmanay, here we are at the start of a new year. On a personal note, let's hope it is better than the last three which have been, for many reasons, quite horrendous. The signs are not good: the extra two stone in weight I'm carrying is definitely changing the way I run. As a good friend pointed out to me recently when I told her how much excess I was carrying, just try running normally whilst carrying two six month old babies. This has clearly affected my running gait and led to the further injuries I'm suffering. Anyway I'll try to do a bit of running this month so that I can survive Blackheath in February. My Christmas cracker joke stated that a battery has a rotten life, it is either working or dead. Well, philosophically I definitely prefer the former so must get the trainers back on, just incremental increases in mileage from a very low base (i.e. one mile).

The only positive from a running point of view in 2010 was from some of the trips made. After a short trip to Holland in February for an international 10km won by Michelle in the snow (also caught up with my old Dutch friend Alex), I had a mad July with three trips away: County Cork in Ireland to avoid attending Ciren AC's children's party; Paris for a bonding weekend with daughter Natalie, taking in a Diamond League meet which included the Usain Bolt travelling circus, and then Barcelona - again with Natz, see picture - for the European Athletics Champs where Michelle and the girls won bronze in the marathon and Farah ran that stunning 5000. Final trip of the year was to France, family in Nantes then north west Brittany. Running link tenuous here but as we intend buying property in the area (the pink granite coast) I couldn't help but think about some good little time trial routes for when I set up Wrighty's training camps (a bit like Font Romeu but more convenient for the sea).

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With Natalie's many Norweigan connections - she's now living in London and was out clubbing with Miss Norway last night! - Oslo's Bislett Games look to be next on our bonding agenda. Doubt I'll get an invite to race so will just have to sit in the stands, if I can wedge myself into a seat.