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b This page was last edited on Sunday, 12 October 2008
This website is hosted by Wellington Community Network, connecting people, community and ideas. WCN is supported by Wellington City Council. |
Eat spuds and win the World Mountain Running championships Posted
15 September 2005 (taken from Scoop and Vegfed press release) Melissa Moon, double World Mountain Running champion, has served as inspiration in the development of the Moonlight potato, New Zealand’s latest dual-purpose main crop potato, positioned to be a huge market success. Getting
a Wriggle on for a quarter century Peter took a while to build credibility as a distance runner. At
high school, he knew what it was like to finish at the back of the field.
“It didn’t come easily,” he says. “I
know how hard some of the tail-enders work. They
work as hard as the elite guys.” By
his last year of college ( After
leaving school, he worked in Tisdall Sports. “It
was the encouragement of John Eccles in the Palmerston North Harrier Club that
kept me going. I started to finish
near the front of fields in races. After
four years, I started winning a few races.”
Peter
moved to and stayed with Ashurst Harrier Club for four years, then shifted to It was
around this time that he started on his marathon career (taking the Wellington
title in 1985, a marathon PB of
2:25:58). While his marathon
count is modest compared with his running mate Mike Stewart of Aurora Harriers,
he has cut out the 42.195k challenge 130 times (so far). On
national standings, he rates his 3:15 for a 50k ultra as his best (1984). He
passed on the Scottish club captaincy to Todd Stevens in 1995, and started
a seven-year stint as club handicapper. He
has served several times on the centre’s Cross Country and Road Committee as
well as serving as a track official. He has
raced all over the country and even tested his mettle abroad.
“Running has enabled me to travel.
The most memorable trips have been to the London Marathon, running the
mid-winter half marathon in Any
disappointments? “Not making the Scottish senior men’s A team in the Nelson
road relay in 1996. I think I let
the club down by not making the team.” He’s
slightly injured at present, but that hasn’t stopped him racing altogether,
just forced him to cut back on the quantity.
Peter’s had major injuries only twice in his career – a pulled
hamstring that put him out for nine weeks and a stress fracture that caused a
three- month layoff. “I learned from them, not to try to push through
injuries, to give the body a chance to recover.” A
running philosophy? “I don’t have a philosophy; I just do it, because I
enjoy racing. I’m too competitive for my own good,” he laughs. “I keep
going because I can still feature well in the vets standings. The
potential is still there to run well.” And the
future? He has set his sights on
the 5000m, and 10,000m at the Oceania Masters Championships in PW’s
PBs
Matt Dravitzki: The Naki boy you can bank on By Grant McLean,
Bush
Journo-at-large He
is one of the club stalwarts of recent years, being Todd Stevens's chief A team
strategist, and one of our most consistent elite runners, yet in many ways
Matthew Dravitzki remains a shadowy figure around Scottish, preferring to let
his meticulous planning and results on the roads do his talking.
Being such a doer, he has been harder to get an interview with than
Salman Rushdie … until now, that is, when I managed to catch-up with the man
himself the only way I know how - via e-mail. So
Matt, how long have you been running? Why
did you get into running? I
heard that you were running quite well at an early age. And
your family has been a strong influence too. What
has been your best running moment so far? What
are your running goals? One, to
break 2:20 for the marathon. Two, to help New Zealand’s elite runners get
world-class times and perform in major championships. And three, to
make sure that Grant ‘Macca’ McLean never beats me at anything (the
interviewer responds that this is a rather forlorn goal, as Matt came off second
best in a tense game of championship mini putt at Taupo in 2001). (Sounds
like the exception that proves the rule! - Ed) What
is your training regime and attitude to diet, etc. My
next objective is to raise my AT (anaerobic threshold) as much as possible. It
is THE key to running fast in middle and distance running. All of the quality
training I do has this goal in mind. I like to understand what I’m doing and
how I’m going to go about it. If you’re not going to use your head, don’t
take it with you. Put some thought into it, come up with your plan and then get
the job done. I
supplement key days (long runs, AT runs, quality sessions) with easy recovery
days. The body improves not when you place stress upon it, but as it recovers
from stress. Okay,
let’s have your weekly schedule.
Total
distance is about 160k per week including all recovery and supplementary runs - I
do about five 30-35 minute morning jogs a week. These are slow (slower than Rob
“Angry” Hanratty completing an Ironman). Diet:
My opinion is that diet is overrated in terms of improving sporting performance.
I believe in eating lots of good food (carbos, fruit and vegies, a decent amount
of red meat, fish and chicken). I drink plenty of water and don’t worry about
having a reasonable amount of rubbish (sweets and high fat food) and a few
beers, etc. As a distance runner, you’ll burn it off and you need a reasonable
amount of fat in your diet anyway. Food is your fuel. What
do you consider as the most prestigious events in New Zealand running? NZ
Cross Country Championships (12k) and the National Road Relay Champs. Who
do you respect most in the running world (if anyone)? Would
you include Paula Radcliffe as someone who has thought carefully about what she
wants to achieve and succeeded, when she may not have had the natural
speed/talent of some of her peers?
And
where do you think New Zealand athletics is heading? Also,
much more TV coverage. Athletics is an exciting sport to watch (which sport has the highest Olympic TV ratings?).
But it’s so easy for people to sit on their butts these days and watch
TV. We’ve got to bring athletics to them - not wait for them to come to us. A
star in the Snell/Walker mould would help get more kids out running. Do
you think New Zealand has the capability to once again achieve at the
international level (i.e. secure medals)? Apart
from being a good keen runner what other interests do you have? As a man who is aware of the running literature, then, are there any running books you would recommend? The two best running books out there are "Running with Lydiard" and "Daniels' Running Formula" (by Jack Daniels). They're more for people who have done a reasonable amount of running and are looking to improve. One thing I would say: You've got to be careful reading any book by a coach/ runner who says do this or this is what I did. People often present their "ideal" week/training block. They won't write down the week they got injured/ill, etc. Individuals are different and you've got to be a bit flexible. Also, you've got to be patient, as distance running is a long-term thing. Look at Jonathon Wyatt running a 22 second PB at 30 years of age after more than a decade at the top of NZ running. Runography
So
there you have it: some insights from the perspective of a runner who likes to
think about how he can get the most out of his running and who is also trying to
do his bit to ensure that New Zealand’s elite athletes have the opportunity
and support to perform at the highest level. For, while you won’t get Matt
saying much about it, along with Simon Panckhurst, he has once again done a
great job in providing New Zealand and Australian athletes with a top quality
10,000m race to pursue and achieve world-class times. This recent meet at Inglewood
(15 February) resulted in a couple of fine personal bests for Jonathon Wyatt (27:56) and our
very own Blair Martin (28:08). Matt, while disappointed with his run, ran a 3
second PB to record 30:04. And let's not forget the top runs from Australians Lee Troup
(27:51) and Dean Cavuoto (27:54). We look forward to seeing what Matt can achieve in the future in his own running career, as at 27 he is only a spring chicken for a marathoner. We can also expect to see other improvements in the New Zealand athletic scene if Matt is given the opportunity to put his stamp on the future direction of our sport - New Zealand athletics going downhill? - perhaps not. 22 February 2003 Michele Allison:
Taking no prisoners on the Makara loop By Paul Rodway It’s a common sight on weekday mornings around Wellington:
Michele Allison running with her friend Dan Powell pedalling on his bike and
Sumo, the family terrier, scurrying along beside her. This regular regime, along with long Sunday runs and Saturday club
races, has given Michele a long string of marathon titles in a distance running
career that covers two decades and countless running diaries. It all began in 1979, when Michele’s sister Bernie
Portenski (six years older) went to Rotorua to support her husband Dick and
their brother Terry in the marathon. Bernie was inspired by the race, signed up
with the Wellington Marathon Clinic in 1980 and ran her first
Rotorua that year. She told Michele that
she had the right body shape for running marathons and she should give them a
go. Michele started running in
October and ran the Nelson Marathon a year later. She was 25.
A couple of Scottish terriers Dan Powell recalls an incident one morning recently when he was
biking with Michele along the footpath beside the Old Hutt Road when an aggressive
cyclist came up and gave Dan a push from behind. Instantly, Michele took the cyclist on and forced him out into the middle of the road. “She’s a fighting creature, is Michele,” says Dan. Sumo, the Jack Russell terrier and the fittest dog in Karori,
goes on the runs two or three times a week and has occasionally been hit by a
car. “Bumpers are made of softer plastic
now. Well, Sumo generally flies up in the air, lands on his feet and trots off,” recalls
Dan. “When this happens, Michele goes nuts, ‘That bloody dog,’ she
screams. But she’d be mortified if he was really hurt. She’s a softie at
heart.” For a few years in the late 1980s, Michele took up
triathlons, but as the family grew, the demands of training in the three
disciplines took up too much time, and the gear got too expensive. Of her 52 marathons (four under 2:50), Michele singles out a couple of
memorable races. Her best marathon was the 1999 Fiji marathon when she ran 3:01
in muggy conditions (and pipped Bernie by over five minutes). The other was the
New Plymouth marathon in 1993 when she set her personal best time of 2:43. It's
in the genes Another
memorable marathon was Invercargill in October 1994.
Bernie went to Auckland on the same day and ran that marathon at the same
time. Afterwards, when the sisters
rang each other to see how they had gone, they were surprised to learn they had
both run 2:50, but even more surprised when they found the seconds to be
identical at 52s. One for Ripleys. Michele is well known for her Makara loop training runs. She
has the distance markers in her head, comments a fellow looper, and gets
frantic if she falls behind her target times, and ecstatic if she’s ahead. In
the club, she’s regarded as a fearsome competitor and a master tactician for
the women vets road relay team. “This is a mess,” she bluntly told the
local schools. “I’ll bloody well organise it. We’ve got to stop this
shambles.” And so the event
has had the Allison treatment for the past six years, with national
champion role models organised to present winners’ certificates. There was a time when someone would just have to announce a race and Michele would be there, more often than not winning her age grade. Over the years, she’s been lucky in avoiding major injuries. This year,
she is going through a flat patch and is being more selective about
races. “I looked at the Vosseler this year and thought back about
all the races I’d done and said to myself, ‘You know, I can’t be
bothered.’” Michele works 30 hours a week for the Stock Exchange and is
taking the NZSE diploma.
What will you be doing in five years’ time? “I like being
fit. I hope I’ll still be running. But
if not, I’ll be doing something, cycling or perhaps swimming. I swim now as a
backstop when I’m injured. Yes, perhaps I’ll work on my technique.” Dan Powell tells a story about one of those morning runs.
Michele, Howard Harman and Dan were taking a break at Pt Jerningham when a plane
passed overhead on the way to the airport. It was a Fokker Friendship (the old NZ Post plane). Howard said on that plane the wings were below the fuselage. Michele
disagreed. The conversation ended and the run continued. The next day, Michele
came up to Dan and said triumphantly, “Hey, I was right.”
“I had no idea what she was talking about,” says Dan.
“I’d completely forgotten about the plane. But she’d gone home, and
immediately called the air-traffic control people and demanded the name of the
plane and the location of the wings. That’s Michele, she likes to be right and
she’s always competitive.” Adds Michele: "I only argue when I know I'm right." Exactly. 20 July 2002
Jim
Kerr: It’s not about the bike shorts By Paul Rodway
Jim of all trades Jim picked up the ability to throw, jump, hurdle and sprint over the years at children's athletics. His coach/mentor in his youth was a very dedicated man - Ray Goggin (his son Stephen ran for Scottish some years ago) - and they still meet up for a chat at the Central League meetings. Yes, Ray is still coaching!
As a teenage athlete, at one of those league meetings decades ago,
Jim recalls having had eight events in one day (three sprints, two hurdles, high
and long jumps and a race walk for good measure), collected 26 points and got a
write-up in the local rag. While boarding at
Dannevirke High - or was it the year after? - he
held a Hawkes Bay Colts 400m title (53 seconds).
Then
at 19, he gave athletics away. “I found I was enjoying the social aspect of
rugby and cricket more than the individualism of athletics.”
He had a job in the Bank of New South Wales and over the next few years went
from posting to posting around the North Island. He was then asked to go to Wellington. “I insisted on only an 18-month posting here. That was in February 1981.“ In
Wellington, he kept up the team sports, adding basketball, and indoor cricket at
the top local level. Then at age
37, he switched from team sports to triathlons, doing the Fay
Richwhite event in February 1997. After
the race, he found a yellow pamphlet under his windscreen wiper, suggesting he
could improve his running through the winter by joining Wellington Scottish. By the following spring, he had lost interest in triathlons and had
returned to athletics as his main sport. Injuries
kept at bay Jim
has been lucky in avoiding running injuries. He attributes this to keeping his training
light: "quality over
quantity," plus core strengthening and stretching.
As a vet, he runs only three times a week: one long/strong run (of around an
hour) and two hard sessions of rep training. The intervals could be 1k
repeats at race pace or 400m reps - either at the track or around the coastal
roads of Miramar. “I don’t
really enjoy doing long slow runs,” he says. This
training is backed up with an exercise regime that stretches and
strengthens his hip flexors and abs. He
has also improved his basic sprint speed by studying/applying the biomechanics
of running, and the role of legs, hips and arms in driving you forward. Why
the trade-mark bike shorts? A laugh. “They’re
actually not bike shorts. They’re
running shorts. For any event over
5k, I found I chafed badly. These
shorts are excellent for stopping chafing.”
His running philosophy is: “One year older, one year faster.” So far, he's been successful. Aside from winning the inaugural P Team Trial trophy (a proud moment), his biggest achievements have been the two national age-group decathlon titles. After that with throwing out of the question for now, he has concentrated on his running and has seen his PBs come down each year. His 5000m track PB is 17:24, 3000m is 10:06, and the 3000 steeples is 10:48 - all achieved in the 2001 season. “I still haven’t perfected the water jump yet,” he sighs.
Goals for the future - definitely!
Short
term - 2002 - run more PBs, participate in the Club Away trips (a must),
break 17 minutes for a track 5000m, plus perhaps another age-group national
decathlon title with a Wellington record of 5000 points this summer.
Long
term - keep fit and healthy - still running and enjoying life for many, many
years to come. Oh, and keeping something in store for the sprint finish.
The Stevens
Dynasty:
Winning team formula from the
1934 Marton-Wanganui Road Relay to the 2001 Takahe-Akaroa Road Relay
By Paul Rodway The Stevens family hasn’t always been
associated with Scottish. There was a
period of a dozen years after the founding of the club in 1915 when Scottish
didn’t have a Stevens among its membership. Alf Stevens arrives from
Southland The story of the Stevens Dynasty in Scottish begins with the
arrival of 25-year-old Alf Stevens from Southland in 1927 to work in the Post
Office in Wellington. Scottish Harriers had teamed up with Olympic and
Wellington to form Trinity Harriers through and after the war. After separating
from the other two in the early 1920s, the club went through a lean period
marked by low membership, and personality conflicts. Within a few years of Alf’s arrival, however,
Scottish runners were placing highly in the interclub events. The names of the
top placers often included the Scottish “3Ss”: Stevens, Silver (Fred, who
had joined in 1924), and Sinclair (Les).
Many issues in athletics return through the
decades. In the ‘30s, tensions ebbed and flowed between those who competed in
track and field in the summer and those who ran as harriers in the winter.
Even though Scottish Harriers had many fine athletes competing
successfully on the track (for example, Fred and Alf were first and second in
the Wellington three-mile track championships in 1929), the club was often
excluded from selection and funding because of the dodgy word “harriers” in
the club name. First provincial teams race
victory, 1931: From left. Les Sinclair, Alf Stevens, Fred Silver and Herb Ellis.
By the early 1930s, the other harrier clubs
were taking the “Kilties” seriously. In 1931, for example, Scottish teams
won the Provincial Cross Country Championships, the Bennett road race, Dorne,
Vosseler and the Shaw Baton, a team sent to Christchurch came second to the
Dunedin Civil Service team in the Kennett Cup. Alf won the Bennett (fifth time),
Vosseler (fourth time) and the inaugural 20-mile cross-country Phipson Trophy. The 3Ss competed in
Auckland. These successes were repeated
for several years in the Depression, despite the departure of Les Sinclair. In 1933, Alf became the club captain, a
position he held for four years. Through this period, the club went from
strength to strength. In the early decades, harrier running was a
senior men-only sport. However, in the 1930s Scottish set up a junior men’s
squad (late teens). Women began joining the track and field side of the club by
1933, but they would have to wait a good 30 years to be accepted in cross
country. This happened in the inaugural NZ championships in 1966.
In 1935, the club won every A and B grade
interclub race in Wellington. Alf Stevens and Jim Riddington (who had joined in
1933) were picked in the New Zealand Cross Country team to team to compete in
Australia. Alf was appointed team captain.
In the following year,
the club cleaned up most of the interclub competitions, while Alf won the
20-mile event and finally the marathon. At the start of World War II, many runners
joined up and the numbers attending club events fell. Older runners were
encouraged to continue to be active in the sport by the formation of the “idle-along”
pack. Nevertheless, the club continued to win many interclub events. In 1941, it
notched up its 11th straight win on the Dorne and Vosseler. As
numbers dropped, older members stepped up to fill places on teams: Fred Silver
came third and Alf Stevens, now 39, came fifth in the Dorne Cup. Alf went overseas with the Second
New Zealand Expeditionary Force as a Post Office volunteer in Cairo for three
years. He was elected a life member of Scottish Harriers in 1945. After the war, some of
the runners who had shown promise earlier returned, but seemed to have lost
their form in the war.
According to one commentator, “The war left a mark that would never be
defaced as if some spring deep down inside had run down.” The club did poorly over the next few years,
losing its vice-like grip on the Vosseler, Dorne and provincial championships.
1946 was the inaugural year of the Wellington-to-Masterton Relay, Fred Silver’s
brain child, in which Scottish was overpowered by Auckland’s Lyndale Club.
On that team was a certain Arthur Lydiard. Alf stepped up as club president of three years
after the war. A gifted organiser with a good head for finances, he had already
served in most of the other administrative positions in the club.
In the early 1930s, Alf began his
administative career with the NZAAA. He was the
resident delegate variously for Hawkes Bay Northland and Southland until 1958.
He was also a national selector.
Back
in Wellington, Alf also served as Scottish president from 1960-65, 1965 being the year
the club celebrated its first 50 years. The next generation:
Graeme and Alan But let’s turn back to the late 1940s. The club
spirit remained high, and the colts pack was formed (under 16 boys) by Fred
Silver. One junior to shine was Graeme Stevens, who finished eighth in
the Provincials, and is the second Stevens to appear in our story. This was also
the year that Alan Stevens joined the club. The Stevens boys had, of course, been associated
with Scottish practically from birth. Alan’s association with the club began
earlier than most. Among his most prized
possessions is a photo taken in 1937 of club opening day. One-year-old Alan is
being held up in the back of the photo. What
other sport could have ever had a chance with a Stevens? As a youngster, Alan sold programmes at
athletics meetings at the Basin Reserve. Unlike
many others, he made money at athletics, by collecting the empty soft drink
bottles and claiming back the deposits. A senior club champion in the
mid-1950s, Alan ran in the Scottish team at the Akaroa relay in 1955 when the
club came third. From 1959-62, Alan took off on an OE in England and joined the
Blackheath Harriers.
Alan recalls the time he beat 1974 Commonwealth
Games marathon silver medalist, Jack Foster. It was during the 1966 20-mile Gold
Cup race, when Jack moved into the lead pack with Alan and his Scottish clubmate
Grant Wheeler. "Grant said, who's this guy behind us? I said, I had no idea.
We slowed down and said, what's your name? He said, Jack Foster, we introduced
ourselves, shook hands, and got on with the race." In the 1966, 20-mile
Gold Cup, Alan Stevens leads Grant Wheeler. Grant went on to win. Right: Grant won, leaving Alan with another runner-up
slot. He also finished second in the 1958 cross-country championship and the
Wellington marathon, with a 12th in the national cross-country his best effort. In the late 1960s, led by club captain Garnet
Nelson, Scottish built the present clubhouse with the squash courts attached.
These plus a liquor licence meant the club prospered for many years, until
squash courts became more common and use of the Scottish courts dwindled. Alan became involved with the adminstration of
the sport in Wellington and nationally in the 1970s. In the early 1980s, Allan
convinced the International Amateur Athletics Federation that New Zealand should
host the world cross-country championships which it did in 1988 when Alan was
president of Athletics New Zealand. That was the high point of his
administrative career. This year, Alan's 30-plus years of volunteer
work on Athletics New Zealand and for international organisations was recognised
when he became a Member of the New Zealand Order of Merit (MNZM, formerly the
MBE) for services to athletics. A calculated assault on the
national road relays
Todd Stevens was born in 1970 and first ran for
Scottish as a seven-year-old. He was club champion in all the junior grades
(U14, U16, U18 and U20). He is the current senior men's club champion. 16 October
2001
Who is Mike Aish?
By Matt Dravitzki 30 September
2001 At Akaroa this Saturday, our senior men's team
will include US-based New Zealander Mike Aish. A lot of people in the club
will be wondering, "Who is Mike Aish and why is he running for Scottish?" Here is
a bit of background about Mike. He is coming back to run for Scottish, but
also to take a break in New Zealand, to see his family and especially his
mother in New Plymouth. Mike and I went to the same high school in
New Plymouth. When Mike was 15, my dad and I were putting together a team
for the annual Round-The-Mountain Relay. My brother Brent, who was in Mike's
class at school, came home and told us, "There's this little Maori boy in
my class and he can run." Dad and I were a bit skeptical at first, but
decided to give him a couple of 5k legs.
Well, the Saturday of the race came around and
the team met at the start. Mike rode his skate board down from his mum's
house, had his cap on backwards and Dad and I wondered why the heck we
were running this kid! With no warm-up and sporting a walkman, Mike hit the
road in baggy shorts and knocked out a couple of 16 minute something 5ks.
The
rest as they say is history. Within weeks (no exaggeration!), Mike was running
for two hours with us over the hills at a solid pace (not something that I would now
recommend to 15-year-olds) and entertaining us with jokes and his Billy T
James impersonation. He won the National Junior 5k title and
qualified for the '94 World Juniors with a great solo 30:59 (the qualifying time
was 31:00). I remember that because marathon legend Paul Ballinger told him he
didn't have a sh#! show of qualifying and a fiercely determined 18-year-old
Mike used those words as motivation over the last few laps. A little over three years ago at 21, Mike was going
from one part time job to the next and felt he wasn't really going anywhere,
employment-wise. He decided to take up a scholarship with Western State in
Colorado. Western is now almost a de-facto Kiwi running school. Hamish Smith,
Phil Spratley, Steve Willis, Rees Buck, Carl Jackson, Rubin McRae, etc., are
just some of the Kiwis who have been to Western. It was at Western that
Mike's running really blossomed. Mike trains HARD. For a period over our
summer, he was running three times a day, up to 150 miles a week (in
three sessions), all done at Colorado's 7,000-8,000 feet altitude. In 1999, Mike won the
Division 2 National Crossy
(Rees was second), and in 2000, ran 28:08 and 28:09 and was selected for the
Sydney Olympics. He was gutted with his poor run at Sydney, but had run too
many 10,000s that season, done too much traveling, and there was too much
indecision about his selection. He is coming back to New Zealand, because he
wants to compete in New Zealand as well as see his family. Mike is very good
mates with myself, he knows Rees well, flatted with John Henwood and is
friends with Blair Martin and Andrew Peskett. He has heard a LOT about
Scottish from myself and Rees, and so on and is really looking forward to running
for the club. Mike is a likeable character - a breath of fresh
air in a sport dominated by conservative sorts like myself. I know he will be
proud to run for Scottish and I know our club will continue to make people who
are proud to run for it feel welcome. The Blair Martin Story:
The Angry Ant speaks out Blair Martin joined Scottish three
years ago. Now living in Sydney and working as a physio, he regularly flies over the
Tasman to compete in the NZ track, roads and cross-country championships. He
returned to New Zealand for the National Cross-Country in Clareville on 11 August. He
spoke to Matt Dravitzki on the phone from Sydney. Where
did you grow up and how did you get into running? I
grew up in Dunedin, and lived there until 1999 when I moved to New
Plymouth with my girlfriend, Heather, for a year. We have since moved to
Sydney. I stumbled across the sport when I was at Intermediate, age about
10. I knew that my oldest brother was in the Kings High School Harriers
Team. Not really knowing what "harriers" were (I had a vague
idea it was related to running, but I also had strange visions of birds
and planes), I chose harriers as my Friday afternoon sport / club.
Over time I seemed to do OK on the runs, and
won a membership to Caversham Harriers as a prize in the school cross-country.
The rest, as they say.... Dunedin is a fantastic nursery for distance
runners--the off-road training within a stone's throw of the city centre is in
my opinion the best in the country. It is a shame about the weather. Blair Martin (left) running with Alan Bunce
in the
You and Heather moved to Sydney a
couple of years ago now. Have you two enjoyed your time there? I
have really enjoyed living in Sydney. I think Heather has, but I haven't really asked her in a while.... We certainly have enjoyed the warmer weather, the
lifestyle, beaches, and we have a supportive training squad who have
become our good friends. As for the city itself, if you were looking for good
training venues and terrain, I wouldn't leave New Zealand. Dunedin, Wellington,
New Plymouth, Rotorua, are all miles ahead of anything I have seen here for long
running. It has also been difficult for Heather's triathlon cycle training, she
is getting used to sucking pollution and dodging cars (not Kangaroos).
The other negative is that Australia is a
fairly grim place to be a Kiwi at times--in particular, the AB's indifferent
recent record combined with the Wallabies recent successes has been making life
tough (the only thing worse that a losing Kiwi is a winning Australian)!
However, the reason that we moved here is to train in a high quality training
group, essentially completing the same program, and Sydney has certainly
provided that. Another plus is that I see my coach, Ken Green, on a daily basis,
and it is great to run at the Olympic venue each week. Why do you run? What
motivates/drives Blair Martin? Aside from
the obvious--weight loss, that is a difficult question to answer. Really, I
think it boils down to personal gratification, a sense of achievement. I have a
competitive nature (my training partners call me "Angry Ant"), so
naturally I enjoy racing people, and the accomplishment of the occasional win. I
also really enjoy beating the clock, being competitive within myself and chasing
PBs, and I often find this more satisfying than winning races. The camaraderie
in the sport, the friends I have made, the exotic places I have visited
and the interesting countryside I have run through all contribute to my
enjoyment of the sport. I certainly would not be able to give running
away before I could say to myself that I had fulfilled my potential, and I could
improve no further. To me, that would be such a waste, as it is not in my nature
to give up without giving 100%. I want to shake that favourite tag that running
magazines give runners like me, "another talented junior who hasn't
fulfilled his potential."
Is there a person/runner/mentor
that has especially inspired you? I am not
a running historian, so I would not say that I have been especially
inspired by any one individual. Of course, I am amazed by the athletic feats
that Walker, Halberg, Snell, etc. all achieved, and as any Kiwi is I am proud to
hail from the same country.
There are, however, many contemporary athletes
that I greatly admire, and not just because I regularly get a whipping from
them, either! Two classic examples spring to mind. I have seen first hand how
much hard work Dale Warrander puts into his running, and I really look forward
to him going on to gain the glory he deserves. The other is Jonathon Wyatt,
purely because of the fact that he has chosen the direction he has wanted his
running career to take, rather than conforming to what others expect he ought to
be competing in. It is clear that he is an athlete driven by personal satisfaction. I also really admire the mature decision that Phil Costley has
made to not compete in the World Champs Marathon, and wish him luck for Fukuoka. In recent years some
disappointing performances by our distance runners have led to comments by commentators and some former greats that our current elite crop have "gone
soft" especially in terms of training--what is your opinion of this?
With the utmost respect to our former greats I
find comments such as this particularly hurtful. Let's face it, athletic
"freaks" such as the John Walkers and Peter Snells usually only come
along once in a lifetime. Where is Great Britain's current Seb Coe? New Zealand sport has been "spoiled" by our
history, because we produced a half dozen such athletes in a 20-year
period. I train as hard as my body will allow, to push
it further (as I have done on many occasion) results in it breaking. The John Henwoods, Dale Warranders and Richard Potts of
this world I would imagine will have learned the same thing. Perhaps a comment
that is nearer the mark is that New Zealand hasn't recently produced have an
athlete with such extraordinary, world-beating talent. I don't think the hard
work by the athletes is lacking. Again, I think it comes down to why we compete
as athletes. The media accolades are nice when they come, and the criticism from
former greats is hurtful when it comes. Regardless, I am in this sport for
myself, for my own satisfaction. I hope others are able gain enjoyment from the
achievements that I have made, but in reality who cares what others think?
After a couple of years in Aussie,
what have you seen done/not done that you would like to see replicated in NZ?
I think the training camp concept, such as the one
the Aussies have at Falls Creek each year, is a winner. Because my squad
had attended Falls a number of years in a row before I came here, over Christmas
2000 "Team-Green" spent a couple weeks in Noosa, Queensland for a change.
I gained tremendous benefit (and lost many
kilos) from training hard over that fortnight. I think that that contributed to
my return from injury with reasonable racing form following a relatively short
period of training. I think that there is a lot of merit in getting a number of
athletes training hard together, in an environment that is conducive to running,
as well as getting plenty of rest (lazing on the beach in Noosa). I think we
ought to arrange such a camp for New Zealand athletes - perhaps in Rotorua or
Queenstown? You moved from a more Lydiard-oriented
programme to a system-type approach with a change in coach about three years
ago. What changes has this meant in terms of training and what benefits or
disadvantages do you think you have got out of it? Is it really that different?
There are a number of differences in the program
that I have been following under Ken's system, compared to the traditional
training approach that I used to run with Alistair McMurran. The major difference is the way that the training is periodised. Previously, I used to
break my training down into large blocks within a major training phase (eg. 13 weeks). I used to have a several-week
build-up (six weeks), transition / speed (four weeks), anaerobic (two weeks), and
"taper" (one week). Now the periodisation occurs within the week. Throughout our entire build-up we are doing two
long runs and three sessions, including either one or two track sessions,
depending on the season. I am still running 130 to 140k per week, but to prevent
my body breaking again, I am only running twice on Tuesday, Thursday and
Saturdays (my session days), and Friday is a running optional day. The reasoning
or philosophy behind this approach is that running is a 365-days-a-year sport.
At the level of running that I am currently at, I don't have the luxury to pick
and choose the races I am going to win, or the times that I am going to run, or
for that matter even the events that I am going to compete in. It is far
from guaranteed that I will run next year's World Cross Country, or Com Games,
even though they may be goals for me. This has been perfectly illustrated recently,
the World Cross Country and the Prefontaine Classic were both events that I
managed to compete at with last-minute notice, when five or six months earlier I
couldn't run a step due to an achilles injury. The training has to be geared
toward such opportunities arising.
In recent years a number of our
leading sports people have defected to overseas countries--so far you've
continued to compete for NZ. Are we likely to see you in a green and gold strip
some time in the future? No. Like a
half-blind old dog, I am quite a loyal person, and am very proud to be a Kiwi. I
do feel the financial hardship associated with being a sub-elite New Zealand
athlete, and it is VERY disheartening to have to pay some of my own way to
International and Grand Prix events when my training partners get full funding.
However, I have been extremely fortunate to have a very supportive athletic
network, and I am greatly indebted to the clubs that I have run for (especially
Scottish Harriers who have been great over the last 2-3 years) for supporting
me. The last thing that my conscience would let me do is compete for another
country!
Aussie commentators tend
to put more of a positive spin on their sporting performances whereas we Kiwis
tend to be pretty quick to knock people back. Do you think this has contributed
to their sporting success? I think that poor performances are able to be
swept under the media rug here, because there are many more positives to talk
about. Australia has a larger population base than New Zealand, and there is
also more money being injected into sport from various sources, so therefore
Australia will naturally be having more success at any one time than New
Zealand. Media is able to focus on those successes rather than dissect the
failures. The other positive spin that Australia has, is they have the
infrastructure and funding system to be able to say "how can we
improve?", rather than telling the athletes to just train harder. The
"knocking machine" still exists here, however, with the commentators
(Jane Flemming, for one) saying that it is time for Matt Shirvington to take
another step up.
What does Blair Martin hope
to achieve in running over the next three to four years? I want to get
good enough to decline NZ Runner an interview! (I am still dark over that
"talented junior who hasn't fulfilled..." remark!); to help Scottish
to gold at Akaroa; to represent New Zealand at the the three big ones (Com
Games, Worlds, Olympics). I also have some pretty significant time goals that I
want to knock off, one I got close to over 3k in the summer.
If there was one thing
you could change about NZ Athletics or one message you would like to send to our
administrators, what would it be? Haha, are you trying to sabotage any
chance I have of running for NZ again? I would encourage Athletics NZ to be a
little more proactive about helping their athletes gain entry into meetings, to
"stick out their necks" a little more. This is one thing that
Athletics NZ can do for their athletes that doesn't cost money. An approach
could be to utilise the profile of some of the former NZ greats of our sport to
endorse our entries or submit the entry for us. Alternately, submit a short
profile including Athletics NZ's hopes for the athlete with their entry (eg we
anticipate XX will gain selection for the NZ Team following a top performance in
your meeting). This will give to meet promoter / organiser more reason to accept
the athlete in their field.
What's it like having a
partner that's more of a top class/elite athlete than yourself? Matt, I
was hoping you would be able to tell me--at least your fiancee has a decent half
marathon PB. Thanks very much Blair (due to
space limitations, we may have to cut that last question and answer). We look
forward to seeing you over here for the National Cross and Relay and wish you
all the best for the future.
Statistics: Blair Martin Age:
27
Personal
bests Event Time
1500m
3:42
3000m
7:53
5000m
13:40
10,000m
29:16
Half marathon
65:00
Records
NZ
Junior 10,000m record holder (still!), World Juniors, 1994
29:41.74
Craig
Kirkwood: International Runner of Mystery By Matt Dravitzki
He was New Zealand's fastest half marathoner in 2000. In March 2001, he ran a fine
28:37 in the New Zealand 10,000m championships. But to most of us Craig Kirkwood
remains somewhat of a mystery man. Who is he, where has this talent been hiding,
where does he come from and perhaps most importantly where is he headed?
Craig actually spent the first few years of his life in the back blocks of
Taranaki (I had to put that in, didn’t I!). His parents were teachers in a
little place called Whangamomana which is about an hour's drive east of
Stratford and whose buildings consist of a pub and a school. It is rugged
character-building hill country.
The Kirkwoods, however, soon shifted south, ending up in Timaru where his
parents still live to this day. It was Timmers that shaped Kirkwood in those
early years and where he did his early running. Craig was a talented runner as a
junior and got a number of national title placings in what was a very
competitive period behind top class juniors like Phil Starr, Mark McKeown and
Blair Martin. He remembers going on national trips with hard men like Rob
Mulcahy and Grant McKewen and being made to skull a beer before you got on the
bus on Sunday morning - even with a huge hangover!
Craig has never won a national title and this remains something that he
intends to rectify within the next couple of years. This talent was recognised
by the US athletic talent scouts and Craig was lured to the University of
Oklahoma where he spent five years on a scholarship. Craig has mixed feelings
about US scholarships. He believes they can be very beneficial if you go to the
right school – with a good coach and a good programme. (What is a good and a
bad school athletically can change in just a few years, though). However, the
type of training/coaching and environment he faced at Oklahoma did little for
his running despite producing some solid performances. He believes that you must
treat each individual school on its own merits - including its coach, programme,
division and fellow athletes. But most of all you must talk to other athletes
and preferable ones who have been to that school in recent years - none of which
Craig got an opportunity to do. He describes the coach at Oklahoma at that time
as a "great salesman but not such a great coach."
In December '98, Craig finished his scholarship, packed his bag (note
singular) and headed for London to work. It was mainly by chance that he
stumbled upon world-renowned manager and coach Kim McDonald. Craig was actually
trying to get a job with the London Marathon. He met the then race director Alan
Storey who has since become Craig’s coach (Alan coaches a number of leading UK
distance runners including Sonia O’Sullivan). Alan didn’t have any work
going at the time but put him on to McDonald. McDonald coaches and manages
around 100 top runners the majority of whom come from Kenya. Last year he had a
staggering seven runners break 13 minutes for 5,000m! He coaches athletes of the
calibre of Daniel Komen (World 3,000m record holder at 7:20) and Noah Ngeny
(Olympic 1500 champion). Craig has worked in a sort of liaison role for McDonald
helping with organisational and coaching work.
Craig was based in London for the next two years and it was here and under
Storey that he really started to develop his potential as a runner. Storey is a
straightforward common-sense coach. Craig was telling me recently about a period
when he was overdoing things a bit. When he spoke to Alan his response was
simple: "You’re in a hole, so stop bloody digging!"
Last year he ran 8:01 for 3000m but struggled to maintain the same standard
over the longer distances. "I lacked the miles and the strength over the
longer distances." In the second half of last year he picked up the miles
and the result was a blistering 63:43 in the Great Northern Half in October,
beating runners of the standing of last year's London Marathon winner Antonio
Pinto. In the New Year, he shifted to Melbourne to help McDonald in a training
camp he has there in the southern parts of the city in the Australian
summer.
It was in Melbourne that he was encouraged to come back to the NZ 10,000m
champs when he heard it was going to be a strong field. Kirkwood ran a fine
28:37, despite limited track work and knocked nearly a minute off his PB. But
Craig’s real focus for the first half of the year remains on his debut
marathon in London in April - a marathon in which Craig seems certain to excel.
We recently caught up with Craig and put a few questions to him:
Q: Craig – How did you get into running?
CK: Well I got into the sport when I was about 13. I had a soccer coach I
really disliked and so I quit and joined the local running club, Aorangi Road
Runners. Things just went from there.
Q: Who was the runner or person who inspired you most as a youngster, or even
now, and why?
CK: Inspiration? Wow, that would have to be my grandfather. I watched him die
as a result of smoking for all his life; he took his dying breath with a
cigarette in his mouth. I told myself that I would never end up in such a
pathetic state. I figure that running is how I thought I would cleanse my body -
it seemed like a good idea at the time!
Q: Who is the most talented athlete you have seen/run against? CK: Run against? That would have to be Moses Kiptanui. Two summers ago while
at a training camp I raced Moses over 400m (he kicked my arse). Seen
Run? Cornelius Chirchir (2000 World Junior 1500m champ). Watch for this name in
a couple of years. Q: You’ve done a lot of training with the Kenyans and flatted with the
likes of Komen. What makes them so good? CK: To be honest, I think they are just very talented athletes who train very
hard. There are many theories banging around about the African dominance. I
think there are several reasons that make them as good as they are. a. Genetics: Genes play a huge role in their ability to dominate the way they
do. We have all heard it, but it’s true. They are a society of hunter-gathers
turned agricultural - without the conveniences that we in the western world take
for granted. They have had thousands of generations that they have been reliant
on there own ability to survive. b. Assistance: They are lucky enough to be assisted by the agent not just Kim
but guys like Jos Hermann, Dr. Rosa, Gianni etc which allows them to physically
get to race. c. Social structure - The training camps that are set up in Kenya are almost
always isolated away from distractions of home/family. Now, I can’t imagine
many western wives/husbands allowing their spouses to be away from home for nine
months of the year. The Kenyan social structure allows the men to do as they
please. Like it or not they are the boss of the
family and there are no questions or argument raised. d. Money- Now this is the big one. For those who are unaware, there are
millions to be won on the grand prix circuit. But the big thing is this. If I,
for example, decide to go full time and dedicate my year to my running, in my
first big race, I win NZ$5,000, great. In the next race, I get injured and I'am
out for four or more weeks. This is huge blow for me it may be six months before
I return to form. I can’t survive on this kind of money, but for the Kenyans
$5000 could keep them going for about 18 months.
Q. How big of a factor do you think altitude is and what sort of a lifestyle
do the Kenyans live away from home?
CK: I think altitude is a significant factor in the Kenyan domination. Buts
it’s a physiological superiority that has been built up over generations and
unfortunately not something that we can fully replicate in a matter of months or
even years. It's no secret that the vast majority of good Kenyan runners come
from parts of the Rift Valley and were born and grew up at altitude. Given that
these tribes are a real minority in terms of the population this has to be more
than a coincidence.
The Kenyans generally lead a pretty conservative lifestyle away from home.
You would be surprised how little money they can survive on even in London (just
a few pounds a week). They basically train hard, eat and rest. They generally do
an easy run at 6:00am, with their main training starting around 10am and then
they relax the rest of the day. They consume no to very little alcohol and save
their money well.
Q. What sort of diet do the Kenyans have?
CK: They eat a lot of a stuff called ugali – it is maize powder which they
mix with water and turn into a sort of cake. It’s pretty tasteless but a good
form of carbohydrate. They usually eat it with veges and sometimes meat which is
often combined into a type of stew. The Kenyans also drink a lot of tea which
they make with milk - and they add lots of sugar - it’s sickly sweet.
Q. Do Kenyans enjoy running more than we do?
CK: Contrary to what most people think the answer to that is no. Walking and
running is a way of life for ordinary rural Kenyans. But for the Kenyans who
chase the dream of racing the tracks and roads it’s a job for them. They
scratch their heads when they see everyday people out for jogs or walks. These
guys race to make money in search of the dream of a better way of life for
themselves and their family.
Q. How does the Kim McDonald/Kenyan deal with work?
CK: Kim pays for young guys to make their first trip to Europe (most wouldn’t
be able to afford it). After that they basically have to pay their way –
including transport, accommodation, food etc. So they pretty much have to
perform from the word go. Kim organises their training, gets them into races and
takes a percentage of their earnings. This has been enough to make him a very
wealthy man. Kim also has a camp in Kenya where young talent is first recognised
and developed.
Q: What do you miss most about NZ?
CK: I really miss the relaxed life style and the availability of Speights.
Q. Where to from here for Craig Kirkwood?
CK: To be honest with you I don’t really know. At the moment I’m back in
Aussie and concentrating on some hard training for the London Marathon. I may be
helping out at a training camp that Kim has in Stanford for a few weeks from
May. Beyond London my plans are pretty much undecided - although I’d like to
come back and run the national relay for Scottish later in the year. You guys
have a good club and some great people involved and it would be great to run
well for Scottish and stuff those Bays boys.
Thanks very much for your time Craig and all the best for London. You’ve
have certainly had an interesting past and those of us who have run with you
recently know there’s some exciting performances coming up in the future. We
hope to see you back in NZ sometime soon.
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