World Championships Marathon

I enjoyed watching the marathon in Berlin this morning - what a pace the guys were going for the whole distance but, wait a minute! The Commonwealth Games Marathon in Edinburgh in 1970 went through 10 miles in 47 minutes - what did they go through in this morning? Just outside 47 minutes. The pack at that point included several British and Scottish runners, it was not a lone Englishman out in front. So what was the difference? This year they just kept it going for a bit further than 1970. So what did Ron Hill and Jim Alder and company know that we don't know now? Or is it attitude rather than knowledge that is lacking? Did you see the winner being sick a couple of times just before the finish but keep on running? These guys are not different, they just work harder and want it more. Or is it more complicated than that?
That's the kind of discussion I used to have with Cyril O'Boyle after every major marathon, world of European Championships or cross country championships. We would run for about three hours on a Sunday morning and the chat would never stop! His heroes were many but in particular there was Emil Zatopek and the almost perpetual runner up Alain Mimoun. Look them up on the internet! I have a photocopy of Zatopek's biography and if anyone wants it, just ask. It's called "Zatopek the Marathon Victor" and worth getting. But then Cyril was a Running University conducted on the hoof. He went to any event that he thought would help him in his running - Forbes Carlyle the great Australian swimming coach was speaking in the Clydebank Town Hall and he went along to that, the cyclists had a world champipn speaking, again in the Town Hall, and he went to that as well. We did a lot fo talking and analysing of these events too when I was living in Lenzie and running with Alistair McFarlane and Doug Gunstone but no one was ever like Cyril.
What did YOU learn from the Berlin race this morning?