Random Road Running Thoughts

What do folk think of when running on the roads, over the country or across the hills these days? I suppose like runners in my time it depended on whether it was a race or a training run, or whether you ran fast or slow! Peter Wilkinson of Derby and County used to sing to himself and one of his favourites in a marathon was "California here I come" - on one occasion when he won the AAA's marathon he had been singing (internally!) and running, concentrating on the race but when he finished he found a rag nail on the right hand swinging across his vest for 26.2 miles had cut through the vest and drawn blood from his ribs! He hadn't noticed the pain. Chris Brasher thought the Elgar ("Land of Hope and Glory" and stuff) was music to run to - a man could run a great marathon to that music, he said. I think everybody has tunes he/she likes to run to - personally in training it was "Walking Back to Happiness" on some and Annette Funicello's "Pineapple Princess" on others. On one occasion I started the Balloch to Clydebank to "Seventy Six Trombones" and ran the last mile to "Wooden Heart".

Apart from singing, people use different ways to motivate themselves during the race. Ron Hill at times used his family to incentivise himself. His children's names were written on his palm and he would look at them when suffering towards the end of the race and at other times on the run would kiss his ring. Wedding ring that is, to remind him of the sacrifices he had required of his wife while he was training.

Another thought. What happens when you concentrate? Steve Ovett in his book "Ovett" - an excellent book by the way and one which answers many questions if you know what you are looking for - said that coming off the last bend into the finishing straight you are concentrating so hard that you hear nothing, everything is silence. Shouting at him in the finishing straight was a waste of time. As if in confirmation of this, soon after I had read it Yvonne Murray was quoted as saying that in a major Games the whole crowd went totally silent when they came to the last 200 metres. Playing the video over again it was clear that if anything the crowd got louder at that point! It reinforced Steve Ovett's line about concentration driving out everything else. It's all right for Linford Christie to stay focused and 'in the zone' for 100 metres, he doesn't have folk hitting him with their elbows, spitting on him and tramping up the back of his shoes for 14 or 15 minutes.