Michael Johnson streaks ahead of the opposition

How many times did we used to see Michael Johnson streak to a win with the opposition trailing as he set his world records?

There have been many good commentary moments from the BBC at the European Championships this week - and so there should be from an incredibly bloated team that has surely set a world record of their own - the commentary and analysis team is into double figures!!

There have been some low points too. But its worth scanning through to find Michael Johnson destroying the field again.

Great performance from Mark Lewis-Francis? Michael says that when he comes back and does something against world class opposition he will stop criticising him. He criticised him in the past because he deserved to be criticised!

Why is it that that, unlike footballers who miss an open goal or fumble when in goal and get the blame, professional athletes who live off other people's money cannot accept any blame for going downhill?

I don't know about down hill but I'm sure Ron Hill would have been applauding Michael Johnson. For those that missed it, there was yet another feature about him in Athletics Weekly this week - the man who has not missed a day of running for 45 years!

I'm not sure that I (or many others) would agree with everything he says. He believes that you should carry on training through injuries and with all the knowledge that is available through books (I don't know if he has found the internet) you don't need a coach.

But I do think think athletes should at their peak should stop making excuses and go out there and make the most of those few years in their career when the sky is the limit.

Back to Michael Johnson. Lane 1 is surely a problem for Martyn Rooney in the 400 metres? Why? Where do 400 metre runners run their fastest times? In the relay from lane 1!

Back to Ron Hill. One of the fastest British runners in the London Marathon this year was let down by the pacemakers. Get out there and run yourself into the ground says Mr Hill who said it was last man standing in his day.

I had a chat with the great man in London, with Paul Curphey and Mike Garrett in 2004, when he promised to come back to the Isle of Man sometime - that's Ron Hill I'm afraid not Michael Johnson.

But would I have to make a confession to Ron if I met him tomorrow? I had a pacemaker for the final stages of a marathon last Sunday morning. I was doing one of my now customary training sessions over the full distance with the aim of getting well inside 2.55 (I had done 2.49 on the same session two years ago). I was a bit sluggish and just picking up the pace a bit when I met Nigel Armstrong at 18 miles. He kept me company for the remainder of the course and we lifted the pace enough for me to get down to 2.52. I ran 6.12 for mile 26 compared to 6.27 and 6.53 without a pacemaker for miles 4 and 5 on Tuesday evening. Its pathetic that some people need pacemakers!

We ought to be out on our own. Just like Michael Johnson.

Ron Hill turns down Mike Garrett and Paul Curphey as pacemakers in 2004

Photo finish for walk

When I got to work this morning I checked that the embedding of the European Championship page had worked and I was amazed to see that the split times for the 50km walk were being transmitted live.

Very exciting to note the progression of Irishman Rob Heffernan up to 4th place.

I was also amused to see that there was a photo finish of the walk. How long before someone says he should have been disqualified for not keeping a straight leg as he collapsed over the line?

Rob during his infamous two visits to the Isle of Man.

SEE RESULTS AND SPLITS FOR 50KM WALK

Email delays

Before treating myself to a quick whiz through some of the recording of the athletics from last night, I had to work hard through some of emails, particularly those relating to our self catering hotel business - planning for people arriving during the next few weeks, enquiries etc.

It also made me realise how many other emails I have still not replied to.

I've just been into our attic looking for some old programmes from the Manx Games - I was going to publish one of them but I can't find the one I was looking for.

So its a quick fix for the website this morning. I went back to one of the emails with a link to the Race the Sun video which I have embedded on the front page.

I am also intending to embed the European Athletics results page if I get a few minutes after breakfast.

I'm glad that there are no fixtures tonight - the first time for five weeks on a Friday night.

Uphill after the sewerage problem

I’ve often advocated runners aspiring to run under 2.45 for the marathon the advice that they should be able to routinely bash out 10 miles in the hour on a fast course.

I label in a “day at the office session”. It should leave you tired at the end but you should still be comfortable turning up for work again the next day.

I have been training for the past year in the belief that I have at least one more sub 2.45 hour marathon in my legs but I really missed the NSC roadway last winter as a place to perform the training session I advocate. When it re-opened, I only ran one in about 62 minutes and I only just ran the marathon (London) under 2.50.

I was determined to rectify that this summer as I build up for the Amsterdam marathon in October. With my current routine, which involves training before work, this necessitates climbing out of bed just before 5.30 with the aim of starting at 6. I found the motivation to do so this morning but had barely run half a lap when I found the NSC roadway fenced off by Island Drainage.

I’m sure that more regular users of the NSC will have been notified of the closure of the roadway for several days but it came as a shock to me. The words I muttered, out of hearing from the men who were only doing their duty at the crack of dawn, would have described sewerage equally well.

I found it hard to convert my motivation to another course and made a half hearted effort to run through Farmhill and round to the promenade.

I had hoped to add to the website content when I got back but I’ve got a few extra household jobs for the next days as Marie has gone away until Saturday. So instead of scanning an old programme I had a programme of scanning the house.

Clapped out

Run in a big city road race and the supporters always give you a clap as you pass by. Run in a local race and you'll often not see any supporters but if you do the most you are likely to get is a "keep going" before you get to the finish.

The exception is the Bushy's Great South Run where small groups of people cheer you around the scenic 10km course.

I thought I was in reasonable shape to race last night but I was feeling pretty clapped out by half way and, particularly as this course has been my unlucky one, I was having some negative thoughts. I had run the early stages with Chris Quine and Kevin Vondy and as they disappeared into the distance I relied on the clapping for the runners that were behind me to get a feel for the threat for my 7th position. I knew that someone was fairly close as I passed the Bay Hotel with about 400 metres to go but I hadn't realised that there were 5 within 38 seconds. Number 13 was not so unlucky.

The leaders were too far in the distance so I didn't get the story of the race but I thought the contrasting backgrounds of Ed Gumbley and Lloyd Taggart would be interesting and just 12 seconds kept them apart.

There were a refreshing number of different clubs represented in the top 10 with Manx Harriers (3), Manx Fell Runners (2), Northern AC (2), Manx Tri Club (2) and Belgrave Harriers all listed.

Three Legs of Mann

I only managed half an hour at the Döhle Isle of Man Track and Field Championships yesterday but I saw enough to support what people have been saying on the forum – that the overall atmosphere was better than for a number of years. Numbers are still worryingly thin in the senior events but there was a very high standard, and great sportsmanship, in some of the junior events. The results were published promptly by Cheryl Pryke on each of the two days on the www.iomaa.info site. I’m no longer taking photos of track of field meetings but there are plenty to be seen on the aforementioned site.

We can spend years helping to develop talent but it is only once in a lifetime, or maybe even once in a millennium, that an island with a population of 80,000 can expect to produce a sportsman as exceptional as Mark Cavendish. His 15^th stage win in the Tour de France yesterday afternoon made a mockery of the opposition and Chris Boardman described him as the best sprinter ever. He really has put the Isle of Man on the map.

Not that we need putting on the map. After all we have been right in the middle of the map of the British Isles for the past millennium and more. It is strange that so many people confuse our fair isle with one that hosted a famous pop festival or think we are close to Jersey and Guernsey. BBC2’s Coast programme, the first in a new series, used the position very cleverly last night to move back and forwards from our central position to the five countries around us – the ones with less successful cyclists and without a thriving junior athletics scene.

We have a thriving athletics scene, we’ve all seen Mark Cavendish star in France and the TV also showed the best scenery in the British Isles is right in the middle. I saw a little of all three Legs of Mann yesterday.

Measuring (and splashing) up

People often reflect on how lucky we are in the Isle of Man to go running in the hills just a few minutes away from our homes.

Another great benefit of living within Manx shores, which I have overlooked for years, is to run on the beach. I didn’t feel like raising myself above a jog this morning and didn’t want to run around my usual courses. Within minutes of leaving my house I was running on Douglas beach. The tide was like Mick Jaggar on a high (far out man) and I reflected on how some people would pay a fortune to run along side the gentle tide on a deserted sandy beach with the sun rising.

It is hard to measure the value to our souls, as opposed to our soles, of such runs but it did the former a lot of good for me, although the latter brought sand to our house afterwards.

By contrast, the great thing about track and field athletics is that we can be entirely objective - especially when we come to championships.

The Döhle Isle of Man Championships this weekend will determine who is the fastest, longest or highest within these tide surrounded shores and the European Championships, which open in Barcelona on Tuesday, will determine the best from a much bigger land mass.

In much the same way as I started the campaign for real country sports and then missed every opportunity to attend, I am not going to see any of the action on Saturday and will probably see very little on Sunday. I shall have to rely on the www.iomaa.info website, produced by David and Cheryl Pryke, for my news.

Track and field championships bring a level playing field to the sport but they can be uplifting too.