Brendan's Patter

I thoroughly enjoyed the World Championships in Berlin this week and there were several things happening - or not happening as far as the GB Distance runners were concerned - that put me into grumpy old man mode. One of the main things in this respect was Brendan Foster's patter when he was 'commentating' or talking over races when silence would have been preferable. There were several episodes of Colemanballs such as "the German Parliament building is surrounded by a beautiful open air park" - eh? I have never seen a park that was not open air. There were many times when he misidentified a runner - eg in the men's marathon when Merga dropped off the leading group and went back through the field. Unfortunately for Brendan, the chap who took his place as fourth runner was also an Ethiopian. He immediately became Merga as far as Big Bren was concerned despite the fact that he was (a) taller) and (b) had a moustache which Merga did not. He's a fine fellow and as an athlete he was very brave, talented and ran some memorable races - his pb for 10000 would have seen him sixth or seventh in this World Championships - but he should maybe do some more homework on the races and learn when not to talk over a race. He wasn't the only one - Phil's interviews with people who would rather have been left alone (how do you feel after winning the gold medal OR how do you feel after finishing below your expectations?) were crass in the extreme. BUT what really bugged what's left of my brain was that B***** Bear. The 10000 netre runners were speeding along the home straight halfway through the race when it popped up trotting along the outside of the track waving to the camera in one of the worst incidents.
But I really enjoyed the competition and have huge admiration for all the runners. It's just a pity that the current selection policy with its emphasis on winners has resulted in so few GB runners being taken to compete.