Chris Maddocks preaches joys of Manx meeting

February IOM walks – one race meeting that all walkers should consider - says Chris Maddocks in Race Walking Record:



Chris kindly mentioned the Lambden family in his article. Left to right: Murray, Robbie & Ben before the start of the Manx Harriers Half Marathon (photo by Chris).

Prior to any new season endurance athletes of all abilities need to consider the right blend of quality and quantity training; choose the best races and hope that this helps to achieve their respective time targets, writes Chris Maddocks. It might be it a personal best or for a select few the loftier goal of qualification for a major championship. I was one of the fortunate ones who, if he trained hard, fell into the latter category.

23 years after becoming a GB international walker, I took my final competitive steps when crossing the 50km finish line at the Sydney Olympics in 2000. In spite of supreme personal fitness, a pre-race injury determined that my race would be one of painful attrition rather than speed. No medal but a glorious emotionally charged end shared with a rapturous packed stadium of handclapping foot-stomping spectators. Last month and on a slightly less grand stage, Manx Harriers staged their Open race meeting of walks and half marathon run. Robbie Lambden arguably stole the show; more of him later.

This annual fixture formed an integral part of my racing season. Formerly known in the 1970’s as the Boundary Harriers Invitation meeting, top British walkers were enticed over from the mainland, not by the lure of money, but by free airline tickets courtesy of Manx Airlines sponsorship, a free supper at the evening prize presentation dinner and perhaps most important of all, by diligent organisation, warm hospitality and with top officials…and among those attending from the mainland this year were Peter Marlow, Peter Markham, Pauline Wilson, and Peter Cassidy. The likes of Allan Callow and Irishman Michael Lane have for many years even made time for post race coaching clinics.

From the early 1980’s fast times became commonplace. Cardiff man Steve Barry, the reigning Commonwealth Games walking Champion duly obliged with a new British 20km walks record of 1:22.51 in 1983.

The relatively short 800m traffic free road circuit around the perimeter of the Isle of Man National Sports Centre wouldn’t be to everyone’s liking, particularly from the running fraternity more accustomed to point to point routes or large road laps. That fact notwithstanding, top walkers from Britain and Ireland routinely travelled there during my Olympic years from 1984 – 2000. Distance wise it was an effort to get to the IOM, so I always aimed to be fit and make it count. Fixture clashes will always be an issue. And more recently it has been said that lap courses under 1kms are unlikely to count towards championship qualification. Well, I never qualified for a major on this course but it did play a significant part in setting me up for the rest of the season.

My first visit saw me out walked by Leicester man Phil Vesty and 19 year old revelation Martin Rush who recorded 1:24.58 and 1:26.32 respectively. 1:27.15 in third was then seen as good form for my 50km Olympic race in Los Angeles later that summer. Vesty went onto LA and performed admirably in the 20kms finishing 13th and ahead of team mates Ian McCombie and Steve Barry. Rush’s Olympic time would come later in 1992 when he competed in Barcelona. It was that same year that arguably saw the finest collective group of walkers toe the NSC line. Both Rush and Andy Penn ducked below the IAAF Olympic qualifying time of 1:24.00. Local hero Steve Partington who has gone on to compete at 6 consecutive Commonwealth Games just missed out with 1:24.53. My 1:25.10 in 4th position wasn’t good enough then, but I was still fit enough and motivated to achieve the required qualifying time on two occasions later in the season. This latter statement is my key point to all ambitious walkers.

Ideally you want to peak at least twice in the racing season. Coming off hard winter training shouldn’t mean strong and relatively slow. February to April is a classic qualifying period for summer/Autumn racing. This means that a good level of speed endurance work has to be done shortly after Christmas. Too often I have heard athletes say I don’t want to peak too soon… But unless you qualify for the principle target (usually in the summer), then there is no second peak to aim at!

My longest road sessions were 45kms at near race pace. Throughout the year I would do many sessions faster than race pace. I did a lot of cross training: regular three times per week gym work, swimming, and daily mobility sessions. Mentored by Ed Shillabeer and Richard Pannell I was nevertheless self coached and made plenty of mistakes. Critics would verify this. However, for all those below par major championship performances, I had an equal number of half decent efforts. And in some mitigation, a number of those disappointing races were as a result of either injury or inadequate acclimatisation due to lack of opportunity. In spite of 20 years at Olympic level I never got to train at altitude – a common factor with most Olympic endurance athletes in the modern era.

For more than a decade a declining number of British distance athletes are failing to reach global championship qualifying standards. Before we beat ourselves up it’s true to say that most athletic events are statistically proven to be lower now in depth than in years past. We unquestionably have talented British walkers. Jo Jackson is a convenient current example. Others like the King twins, Ben Wears and Luke Finch are knocking on the door. It is important that race plans are well mapped out together with fairly precise intermediate training regimes.

With years of accumulative experience good athletes learn how to use some races as stepping stones to other primary targeted events. Past results will show that the Manx meeting invariably led leading performers onto a major championship. Returning in February 2000 saw me defeated by Irishman Robbie Heffernan, thus exacting revenge for me beating him the previous season at Leamington Spa. He has since gone onto becoming a regular world top 10 performer over 20kms. However, in 2000 my principle goal was 50kms. Three weeks following the Manx race and with intense intervening training completed I achieved my sub 4 hour goal when winning the Dutch Open 50kms in 3:57.10. I had the speed under race conditions to go with the endurance. A fifth Olympic Games beckoned.

The 2009 HSBC Securities sponsored Manx Harriers Open meeting saw some intriguing battles in both the walks and the run. Sadly, enthusiastic meeting organiser Bridget kaneen and her band of helpers were not rewarded with more top athletes. The annual fixture has long included a running race. This year the half marathon run produced unexpected drama at the end of the day.

Robbie Lambden suffers from autism. Over exuberance at the beginning of the half marathon saw him chase after his brother Ben – a 19 year old medical student. Robbie was reduced to walking in the closing stages before he rallied on the last lap and sprinted the final metres. His goal of sub 2 hours was achieved with 5 seconds to spare and was met with the loudest cheers of the day. His father Murray, a former international walker, finished 3rd in the run and poignantly said later: ‘There is always a risk of overdoing things in sport. I had never gone so quickly from the fear that we had allowed him to overdo it to the joy of seeing an ambition achieved. I still don’t think there is any sport where people appreciate each other’s performances as they do in athletics’. And so say all of us.

Athletics is there for all to enjoy. Structured training with good competition selection can reap rewards for all involved. Be proud. Walk tall.

Chris Maddocks, March 12 2009