McGHIE'S REVIEW OF THE BLOOD, SWEAT AND YEARS(OK, so I’m not very good at getting round to these things on a regular basis!)
On the final lap of six I was momentarily side by side with each of the Kenyan Internationals who eventually took the top three places in the 12th annual Sao Silvestre 8.45km race in Lagoa, Portugal.
Global success at last…after all these years…not a bit of it as it was only as each in turn lapped me, some six minutes ahead on the undulating and cobble strewn town centre course.
But under the often dim or non-existent Christmas lights of this small but atmospheric Algarve town it was a memorable way to end 2009 on a competitive (or in this case barely competitive) level.
A year which has seen some of the highs and lows in my personal athletic career, now spanning almost 30 years, since I first took to running after smashing my arm too badly to really continue serious involvement in any of the other sports I had participated in during my school and early working days.
The Lagoa race was at least relatively warm and with none of the snow which has blighted all our running attempts during the latter part of December and was on the final day - Boxing Day - of our (family McGhie’s) week away for Christmas.
And 50 quid for coming 37th overall isn’t bad, especially as I only managed to come second in my age group - Veteranos III…or Vet 50 as we know it (the guy who won the category took away the best part of £75 and the winners of both male and female races scooped around £750 - 800 Euros to be exact!).
Lord knows who pays for the race as none of us were seemingly asked for an entry fee but it was terrifically organized over a town centre course shut to traffic for the occasion.
The standard was good as Robert Russell
(pictured left in Lagoa with his other half Katerina, Pim, Michael and myself) - from Central AC and Thames Valley Harriers and the only other native English speaking athlete (if you can call a Scot that?) managed only tenth overall…and he hopes to represent Scotland in the Commonwealth Games on the back of his 29 minute and something 10k pb. Anyway great fun, bl***y hard but ultimately rewarding, not least because earlier in the week we had been stung for 55 Euros for a table lamp in the apartment that had come off second best in a fight with one of Michael’s (flying) teddy bears. The bear concerned has, needless to say, now been severely grounded!
XII São Silvestre Cidade de Lagoa 2009
SC Lagoense / Município de Lagoa
26 de Dezembro de 2009Resultados: 8,450 m Seniores (Masc)
Class No. Atleta Ano Clube / País Marca
1º 32 Nicolas Korir 90 Quénia (Kenya) 25 14
2º 28 Kenneth Kiplimo 85 Quénia (Kenya) 25 23
3º 33 Elisha Birgen 79 Quénia (Kenya) 25 37
4º 119 Valery Zholnerovich 85 Letónia (Latvia) 25 48
5º 205 Youssef El Kalay 81 GDR Conforlimpa - Santarém 25 55
6º 204 Luís Feiteira 73 Maratona CP - Lisboa 26 04
7º 30 Sérgio Silva 83 Maia AC - Porto 26 06
8º 405 Luís Pinto 83 Sporting CP - Lisboa 26 07
9º 231 António Travasos 71 Sporting CP - Lisboa 26 13
10º 171 Robert Russel1 82 Escócia (Scotland) 26 31
37º/2 207 Keith McGhie 59 (Vet 3) Inglaterra (England) 32 10
As I mentioned it has been a very varied 12 months and the following must stand as my personal ‘athletics’ review of the year.
I guess that there have been three highlights – beginning with 16 minutes flying, charged by the euphoria of a holiday and being able to run with sea air in my nostrils, in Spain just after Christmas 2008, then a 12-second of so rush of blood to the head in August, followed by a more significant (for me anyway) two and a bit minutes at York in September.
Two of the aforementioned achievements I am rather proud of, and somewhat chuffed at still having it in me, while the third occasion was purely spontaneous, a bit silly – even childish, unashamedly taking me back to a carefree youth – but still makes me smile.
There has been one enormous low too and that should really stand head and shoulders above the other occasions at it was a full stop – the end of an era never to be repeated.
The ‘era’ had, in reality, ended several years ago as a group of young, and not so young athletes, had gone their different ways, some drifting out of the sport completely, but the tragic and premature death of Tim Hepworth last Christmas meant us all saying goodbye to someone very unique in attitude, the ability to motivate, offer comfort and comradeship and just be a damn good apple.
Tim was an athlete who moved into coaching and was largely responsible for not only producing Spenborough’s most successful ever runner – Olympian and former European Junior 400m Champion Peter Crampton – but also spurring the less naturally talented of us onto our best ever performances and times.
I’ve always been largely self-coached, often because of the remote places I’ve lived and worked, but whilst training under Tim (one of only two ‘coaches’ I’d ever profess to have had) I set my lifetime best times over 200m (23.6) and 400m (51.1) at the age of 36!
More significantly was the friendship, the evenings round each others’ houses and the weekend trips away (usually walking in the Lake District) I shared with Tim and his equally special wife Debbie.
Our closeness (and I speak for the likes of former Spen’ members Pete, Dougie Grubb, Simon Moran, Lee Blackburn, Paul Vickers, Howard Sparke, plus others) was naturally affected by Tim and Debbie moving from Cleckheaton to Hebden Bridge, but the friendship was never severed, just the walking weekends became more often located along the Worth Valley.
Tim’s funeral, fittingly a largely outdoor affair with the remembrance ceremony taking place under the trees near Hardcastle Crags Visitors Centre, was a terrible way to begin the New Year but very poignant…truly someone gone but never to be forgotten by those lucky enough to have known him.
Happier times were to follow as the winter meandered into spring and then summer (albeit that never arrived, either weather-wise or in terms of on-track performance, until late August and September).
The year kicked off well with a Christmas holiday 4.9km race in Altea, just north of Benidorm in Spain. Having enjoyed the sea air in more than just my nostrils (the waves were coming over the rocks onto the sea-front road some days) whilst training in comparitive warmth for the previous week, I managed to stumble upon a cracking little race of just under 5k - my sort of distance as road races go. And helped on by a relaxing week as a tourist in a part of Spain that is pretty much closed for winter except for the long term pensioner customers, I surprised myself by grabbing seventh place after feeling really good in the early evening event and claimed a really nice little trophy for being first vet of any age home in 16 mjinutes and 18 seconds.
After that there was the anti-climax of coming home to a cold, mirky and hilly (three things I detest) Pennine 10k and struggling, then doing likewise in each of the first two Esholt 10k's, so I figured it was time to revert to the track.
I haven’t really found the inner drive or self confidence to do much more than nibble away at the V45 rankings (at any distance) since finishing third over 800m in 2005.
But, with the help of Spike (Michael Dransfield), John Gallagher, John Henry and numerous others on a Monday and Thursday (in winter) evening, I managed to get into good enough shape to challenge for top spot again.
Although it wasn’t really until late July, when Michael and ever-improving son ‘fly’an’ Ryan went across to do an open meeting at Stretford, that I rediscovered my self belief that I was still competitive.
My time of 2:05.01 was my quickest since that summer of 2005 and, perhaps more significantly, was less than two seconds off of the best V45 time by a Briton in 2009 and a mere four-tenths of a second away from the number two ranking.
I tried a couple more times to better the mark and, but for Frank’s ‘conservative timing’ (no hard feeling mate but my money was on the other two blokes timing the race!), I might have managed it!
Anyway, August 3rd came and with my birthday the chance of improving the time disappeared but I did also move from the oldest guy in the V45 age bracket to the youngest in the V50…
A day before the ‘change’ I had the dubious pleasure of leading Spenborough’s 4x100m relay team home to victory in the final league match of the year - quite something for a bloke who spent 15 years as a half decent 400m runner and never even made the sprint relay team, yet now I am several yards slower I get to run anchor leg!
Never won a sprint relay before and wouldn’t put money on ever doing it again so not completely embarrassed by the leap in the air across the finish line or tossing the baton 20 feet up in the air as I slowed down…always wanted to do that (Usain Bolt eat your heart out).
My first attempt at getting a few good times in at V50 was blighted by a gale force wind at a Northern Veterans league match at the South Leeds Stadium. It was a lovely evening (sunny and warm) except for the hurricane force wind. Forget two laps into that, I thought and went for 100m, 200m and 400m instead…good fun.
Tony Bradford notably turned up 10 min’s before the first event and went on to run EVERY track event on the programme I think - quite a training session Tony, especially as your 3000m time was still faster than anything I can dream about these days.
One thing I you have to accept as you get older is that when you turn up for track races, more and more of the athletes lining up beside you are young enough to be your son. I’m now realising that an also growing number are technically young enough to be my grandsons! Still, can’t deny I get a bit of a kick out of still managing to be competitive with many of them.
With this in mind, I decided to do one more open meeting - a low key affair at York on September 12th and swear that I was the only one out of my teens.
I inadvertently used the Tony Bradford method of not really bothering about warming up - getting caught in road works on the A64 and Saturday lunchtime traffic around York to get to the Huntingdon Stadium barely 20 minutes before the race was due off.
The starting steward, who had also been at the West Yorkshire League Championships the previous week eyed the seven starters for the 800m and said to me, with a notable air of sarcasm: “I think you’ll find this one a bit sharper than the WYL?!”. “Hope so,” I said, also accepting his suggestion that I (as the ‘old codger’) would have to double up in a lane with one of the ‘slower runners’ as York is a six-lane track. I wasn’t there to win - purely to hang on with these young whipper-snappers as long as possible with the aim of getting inside the 2:04.65 set by Preston’s Stephen Smith (who I had actually beaten in that race at Stretford) in the World Vets Championships in Finland the previous month.
Trouble was I was convinced his time was 2:04.56 and, after giving it everything fro 650m, only for my legs to leave me completely over the last 80m - I was treading water and the line wasn’t getting any nearer.
I fell across the line in 2:04.6 (rounded up hand-timing of course, but not to the nearest minute like Frank apparently does!).
I gave it everything but was left kicking myself (metaphorically as I didn’t have the strength to do it physically) at missing out by four hundredths of a second, as I thought.
It wasn’t until I got home later that day and checked that I realized I’d made it by 5/100ths to the top spot in the rankings!
I was chuffed I must say, Tim would have been proud as he laid a lot of the ground-work all those years ago and I reckon it might be the first time since his other protégé - Pete Crampton - 22 years earlier, that a Spenborough male athlete has topped their age group rankings at the end of a year?! Any ideas anyone?
So a year that started on a massive low, ended brighter and, if I can get the time off and money to go, the European Veterans T&F Championships in Hungary next July must be a once in a life-time goal. We’ll see…
Many thanks again to Spike, John G and others who helped and encouraged me throughout 2009… happy New Year to all for 2010.
************************************************
Tim Hepworth (left) - sincere thanks for the memories......
*******************************************************
.jpg)
Posts
