Spring 1999 - British Milers Club

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BMC April 1999 6/6/99 9:07 pm Page 22Your LettersCompiled by Matthew Fraser MoatFROM DAVE COCKSEDGEI have two points regarding the most recentEuropean Championships in Budapest.Firstly, for the first time since 1946, therewere no heats scheduled for the menÕs 5,000mchampionship. I find this vaguely disturbing -when the championships were last held inBudapest back in 1966, three heats were held.Does this mean that numbers of participants aredown all over Europe, and not just in the UK?Or are there far fewer athletes in Europe able tomeet the qualifying standard?We have all witnessed the steadily decliningnumbers in track distance events through theyears. Back in 1968, we have 68 entries for theSurrey county 3 miles heats, scheduled for aTuesday evening on a cinder track at MotspurPark. In 1998, just seven athletes reported forthe 5,000m final on an all weather track atKingston.Secondly, to date, no positive drug test resultshave been announced from the 1998 EuropeanChampionships. This can only mean one ofthree things: a) all participants were ãcleanÒ; b)doped athletes have become ultra-efficient inãcyclingÒ their drugs to avoid detection; or (c)the organisers have decided to jettison anypositive samples for expedient political reasons.The latter is not unprecedented. There isevidence that (c) took place in Moscow (1980)and Helsinki (1983). Take your pick.FROM TIM HUTCHINGSIÕm intrigued by Norman PooleÕs ÒChairmanÕsNotesÓ at the front of the latest BMC News.He states that BMC races are primarily toenable to athletes to run fast times, but also says- and this is what concerns me slightly- that theplace to learn the art of racing is inChampionships! Does he really mean this? Iwould have thought it is a bit late to be learninghow to race, when youÕre actually in animportant race!For many years I benefited from the BMCphilosophy of running as fast as possible atalmost every opportunity. I well remember thethrill of breaking 3:12 and then 3:00 for 1,200min those BMC races at Crystal Palace in theÔ70s; I remember running very close to a 4minute mile in various BMC races back in 1978before that breakthrough race, again at CrystalPalace. But at the same time, I was getting inenough races elsewhere to learn the art ofracing, so that when I came to the importantChampionship races - even domestic championships- running tactically well, and getting thebest result out of my race, was almost secondnature. I believe that I became a good tacticalrunner, from 800m right up to 10,000m, in largepart because I was able to race so much in somany different racing situations.So I suppose what I am saying is, does theBMC need to reassess itÕs Òraison dÕetreÓ nowthat the youngsters(the 16-20 agegroup) donÕt havethe same numberof racing opportunitiesat a goodlevel to learnfrom? IÕm talkingfor example, aboutall those SEAAmeets that Andyused to organisePhoto by: HorwillTim Hutchings, BMC Vice President, twice silver medallist in the WorldCross-Country Championships, and 4th in the 1984 Olympic 5,000m, withBMC Founder, Frank Horwill, after attending the funeral of Ray Williams,BMC Vice President, in Kent in 1997. Ray was the BMC MembershipSecretary for 10 years.and which,combined with theBMC races, meantthat our generationwere able to learnto run very fast (inthe BMC events),and get good teethsharpeningtacticalexperience beforegetting to theChampionshipevents. Does theBMC need toacknowledge in deeds (and words) that tacticalknowledge, not tactical naivete, is what isrequired in Championship races.How could this be achieved practically?Perhaps by allocating some races during theyear, when the athletes were told that, for thatday, the races were just that, real races, not justglorified time trials. I donÕt mean this to soundcritical, but what we do not need is anothergeneration of runners who end up like Mayockand Whiteman, having to spend most of theirtime in processional Grand Prix races (becausethe Africans are blazing away at the front), butare relatively tactically naive when it comes tomajor championships. Witness the way theyboth got outsmarted in Budapest last summer,for example, and neither of them, with all duerespect to the pair, made any attempt at all towin at the Commonwealth Games. Look at thetapes.Hope this can be regarded as constructivecriticism. It all started by my having beensurprised at NormanÕs comment, but actuallymakes me thing that maybe the BMC could behelping athletes to learn to race, as well asachieve personal bests.FROM JOANNE PAVEYI am writing to clarify a couple of pointsfollowing my interview in the last BMC News.Regrettably some people thought I was criticisingmy former coach Mike Down. There isabsolutely no way I would want to do this - onthe contrary I have much to thank him for. Ihave been coached by Mike for many years andvalue his friendship.As i said on the previous article, Mike is agreat bloke and puts in a lot of effort with alarge group of athletes and with the BMC. He isalso very knowledgable coach and whilst withhim I achieved a lot of success.When I read the article, I felt that my gratefulsentiments had been reflected, so I certainly didnot anticipate any negative reaction. I nowappreciate that some of the wording could havecaused misunderstanding.At present I am trying to overcome a kneeinjury and I would like to thank all the peoplethat have given me support during this time. Iwould particularly like to thank PAS whosemedical support has been outstanding. I amvery grateful.I can only apologise again to Mike for anyembarrassment caused by misinterpretations. Iwish Mike all the best for the future and hopehe continues to get the recognition that hedeserves.22BMC News : Spring 1999
BMC April 1999 6/6/99 9:07 pm Page 23Your LettersPhoto by: McIlroyBMC Members James McIlroy (left) with Tom Mayo (right) pictured whilstwarm weather training in 1999.FROM PAUL STOCKBURNLeeds based middle distance runner MichelleFaherty has quit top class athletics due tomounting work pressure. International Faherty,who is a self-employed fitness instructor, hasreluctantly decided to hang up her spikes at theage of 30.She said ÒIÕm really busy now with work andIÕm feeling tired all the time. It makes me sadto have to finish, because IÕve had some greattimes in the sport since the age of 13. My aimthis year was to make the CommonwealthGames team. I realised that when I didnÕt makeit I would have to think seriously about where Iwas going in athleticsÓ.Faherty, a member of Leeds based SkyracAC, regards competing over 800m in the worldindoor championships in Paris last year as oneof the highlights of her career. And two yearsago she was third in the Olympic trials, but wasdeprived of a trip to Atlanta after missing thequalifying time.During a career in which she narrowly failedto break through to major championship leveloutdoors, she nevertheless represented Britainor England more than a dozen times, and shewon medals from county to national levelthroughout the age-groups.As a pupil of LeedsÕ Notre Dame highschool, she gained a silver 800m medal atsenior level in the English SchoolsChampionship. In adult competition shecaptured 800m silver in the national indoorchampionships after being a gold medallist atjunior and intermediate levels.Winning Northern and Yorkshire titles werealmost routine for the tall long-striding Faherty,who retires as a current county champion on thetrack and with bestsof 2:03 (800m) and4:13 (1,500m) to hercredit.She is quick to paytribute to Leedscoach Gordon Agarand to Peter Watson,who has recentlyguided Faherty andBarnsleyÕs JohnMayock, BritainÕstop male miler.Coaching supportfrom her stepfather,John Radcliffe, andcash aid fromYorkshire andHumberside SportsAid Foundation and Leeds accountancy firmBartfield and Co. also helped to push her tointernational levelHer talent on the track earned her an athleticsscholarship at the University of North Carolinaand she also possesses a degree in drama andPhysical Education.ÒThrough athletics IÕve seen some fantastic,interesting places, such as Hong Kong Ukraine,Estonia and LatviaÓ, she said. IÕll always runfor enjoyment, but now I wonÕt compete.ÒWith my job I can now put something backby giving people instruction and advice onfitness.ÓFROM DAVE COCKSEDGECongratulations on the last issue of the BMCNews. You have certainly done a fine job onthe statistics, though I would query the need forquite so much on Kenyan distance runners -much of it conjecture as to whether they aredoping (EPO) or not. ÒInnocent until provenguiltyÓ is surely only natural justice. That is therule that Track and Field News applies - unlessyou are discussing Chinese female middledistancerunners: then of course they are allguilty as hell, and damn the lack of evidence!When Frank and I edited the magazine in thepast, we felt it was important to keep it as aforum for discussion among the membership.Obviously this no longer applies, for in the rushof ÒForward and UnitedÓ (with a journal editedby committee) discussion is taken as dissent,and is thus suppressed. To me that is adangerous trend - a frank exchange of views inprint is surely a healthy process, and censorshipis not.Frank and I edited a magazine that was oftenanarchic in content, and were sometimeswrong, but we were never afraid to have a view,and invite discussion, even if that amounted toargument. And often, I would venture to think,we were right on the money.I was also somewhat miffed to note that inthe BMC News Index 1972 - 1990 by BrendonByrne, my name does not appear alongside anyof my articles, even though I was Editor from1979 to 1990! Several articles written by mehave been left out entirely (example: profile ofBilly Mills), and those that have been includeddo not carry my byline. Everyone else who hasever written for BMC News gets a byline!What is this - some kind of selective memoryprocess - can someone please enlighten me as towhat is going on?Finally, in the quiz, Frank names JackLovelock and Herb Elliott as two men whohave set world records in the Olympic 1,500m.As he did not specify gender in his question, Iwould respectfully submit that LyudmilaBragina (Soviet Union) also did so in 1972 - infact she broke the 1,500m world record in herheat, semi-final and final!FROM MELONIE BURROWSI am currently researching female endurancerunners at Canterbury Christ Church UniversityCollege specifically looking at bone density andthe effects of endurance training loads. Due tofemales participating in high volumes ofendurance running they run the risk of disturbancesto their menstrual cycle, decreasingbone mineral density and making the bonesusceptible to osteoporosis in later life. The aimof the research is to identify a training levelwhich is advantageous to increasing bonestrength to prevent female runners fombecoming osteoporotic and suffering the healthconsequences. Indeed females involved withinthe study will get full reports on their healthstatus.I aim to recruit female subjects between theage range of 20-40 yrs from as wide apopulation as possible. I have spoken to ChrisNewman who suggested that I contact you withreference to the possibility of advertising thisstudy in the British MilersÕ Club newsletter.Your help would be very much appreciated, andyou can contact me on the numbers below.Tel: 01227 767 700, fax: 01227 470 442, email:M.Burrows@cant.uk.ac.uk.BMC News : Spring 1999 23
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