1500 PB Cooks Gardens 1984

It had become a tradition ever since Peter Snell ran his world record in 1962 that the mile was run at Cooks Gardens but this year it was changed to the metric equivalent to help people chase a qualifying time for the Olympic Games. I never considered qualifying myself since I would have had to improve my best by more than ten seconds, but I was hoping to do an equivalent of the four minute mile over 1500m.

The field contained Tony Rogers, Peter O'Donoghue and Englishman Peter Elliott, better known at that time for his 800m running. There was some good pacemaking for the first couple of laps and Tony took up the pace with 800m still to run. This is around the time the photo above was taken (you can just see me in fourth place if you look hard). Both Peters went with him and they got a bit of a gap on me, but I was still going at a really good pace so wasn't too concerned. Peter O'Donoghue sprinted away from Tony over the finishing stages and won in 3:38.03, just outside the qualifying standard. Tony held on for second in 3:41.4 and although I finished strongly and nearly got Peter Elliott, he held me out for third in 3:43.1 to my 3:43.9.

So another race at Cooks Gardens, another fourth place and another PB. I was really happy with the time and an improvement of four seconds. It could've been time to readjust my sights and maybe consider getting down to a qualifying time for 1500, but I really didn't think I was fast enough for the distance and instead looked at stepping up the distance to 5000m. This time remains my best ever over 1500.

Welligton Track Champs 1984

Steve Walshe leads the first lap of the 800m from Brian Turnbull and me.

I was looking to repeat my efforts of the previous season and defend my three titles over 800m, 1500m and 5000m. Unfortunately speed merchant Brian Turnbull picked the weekend to make his first appearance on the track for the season. The photo above shows that he didn't resort to his usual tactics of burning me off over the first lap but sat with the pace made by Steve Walshe, trusting his speed to get him home. The photo is one of my favourites and shows how relaxed you can be even when running 400 metres in 55 to 56 seconds. Shortly after the photo was taken Brian overtook Steve and I followed him but was unable to get past in the home straight. Brian's winning time was 1:53.0 and I was four tenths of a second behind. A little bit slower than the previous year but still a respectable time.

Half an hour later I lined up for the 5000m where I was lined up against Dallas McCallum who had been selected for the New Zealand cross country team. Dallas was his usual aggressive self right from the start and opened up quite a gap over the initial stages but once I'd got into my stride I managed to haul him in. What this did was initiate a number of bursts from him as he tried to shake me off. But after each burst I'd haul him back. Once we had the bell I knew I could win it from there and took the lead down the back straight. Dallas hung on grimly but once I started sprinting from 200m out he couldn't foot it with me. I covered the last 200 in 27 seconds to win in 14:18.9. Dallas finished in 14:20.1.
It's hard to say whether this double was a better one than the previous year. Although the 800 was slower, the 5000 was quite a bit quicker and the conditions were not as good.

The following week I lined up for the 1500m (no 400 heroics this time). The field contained Steve Walshe, Liam Healy, Dallas, Barry Mayo and Brent Addison and, such was my confidence, I took the lead after only one lap had been run and ran away with the race. I finished in 3:48.0 with Steve second in 3:52.7.

Tauranga Twilight Meeting - 1984

The Tauranga Twilight meeting on New Year's Day is one of the classic athletic meetings in the country. Being during the Christmas holidays, it attracts athletes from all around the North Island and makes the events very competitive. The event was very well organised with pacemakers arranged for many of the events. Of course athletes being what they are, the performances on the day weren't always earth shattering due to the effects of the party, held at Ken Knott's place, the night before.

The timing of this meeting was perfect for me. At New Year I'd usually just completed my four weeks of hill drills and was then beginning to get into the anaerobic phase of the training. A good race over my favourite 3000m distance, with good competition, would give an indication as to where I stood.

In the 1983 event the field contained Euan Robertson, Paul O'Donahue and Gary Palmer. The pace was set by Stan Grimes and I made an unfortunate tactical blunder by getting myself stuck on the pole line when a bunch of five runners took Stan at the beginning of the last lap. I managed to finish strongly but Euan had got too far in front and he just held me out.

He was in the field again for the 1984 event and warned me that I'd better not do the same thing again. I didn't.

The field was again a strong one, this time containing Russell Haswell, Mark Furlan, Geoff Shaw and Brent Addison. Again Stan Grimes made the pace, but this time I was right on his tail and as he came to the end of his work I dictated terms. I led the field into the last lap and was waiting for a challenge from the others down the back straight. None came so I kicked off the front of the field and left them to fight it out for the minor placings. It's a great feeling to be able to do that and is testament to the work completed on the hills.

I think my time of 8:14.0 was a personal best at the time (given that in those days the opportunities to run 3000m were few and far between). Russell was second in 8:14.8 and Mark Furlan third in 8:15.0.

(For the winning prize I received a cutlery set which we only retired this year)

Round Rarotonga Road Race - 1983

The third time we made the trip to Rarotonga the place was beginning to feel like a home away from home. In fact I remember even on the second trip I had that feeling you get on returning home after a long trip overseas. It felt good to be back.

This year we had moved our accommodation from the Rarotongan Resort to the Edgewater, much less salubrious but a lot friendlier with large rooms that slept more than just two. We were joined on this trip by a contingent from Scottish which included Dave Hatield, Chris Harp and Tony Lane. Howard Gregory from Masterton was also there.

Unfortunately during the week before the race most of us managed to pick up a gastrointestinal bug which meant frequent trips to the toilet. The question we all asked ourselves was "will I be able to last until the finish?"

The Kapiti team for the 1983 race. Rob DeBique, Paddy Gresham, Clarence Marter, me and Bryn Kempthorne.

The leading bunch quickly sorted itself out, consisting of Dave, Chris, Howard and me. I was pretty confident, having raced all these guys a lot, but you can never discount any of them. Howard was much more experienced at the longer distances than I was and Dave was very good no matter what the distance. I'm not sure whether the gastro bug had got them worse than me but I found I had slipped away from them by the time we got to the long straight by the Edgewater at about 20km. But the race was not over.

At the race briefing we had been told that to leave the road was to risk disqualification and as the protestations from my insides increased as the kilometres (actually in those days we would've said miles) went by, it became imperative that I leave the road.

Up the rise by the airport with the race referee in attendance on the motorbike.

Unfortunately at around the time it became necessary the race referee was riding his motorbike alongside me so I had to decide whether I would risk disqualification or hold on as best I could. I decided on the latter and "as best I could" ended up being not that good. So it was at the next drink station that the water didn't go into my mouth but down the back of my shorts. For this I was awarded the referees prize as he'd witnessed it first hand.

"Holding on" to the finish.

Fortunately the others must've been suffering at least as much as I was and I ran home the winner in 1:46:49. Dave was second in 1:48:16 and Howard finished in such distress third place (1:51:39) that he had to be taken to the hospital. At the hospital he was given intravenous saline, but not intravenously, to drink. He was discharged fairly quickly with a couple of more bottles of "drip" which we helped him drink during the afternoon.

Chris (1:53:08), Clarence (1:54:15), Roger Weatherly (1:54:40) and Rob (1:56:03) filled out the next few places and, with Bryn Kempthorne the Kapiti team regained the title we'd lost to Tauranga in 1982.

You may have noticed that I don't look my usual hairy self in these photos. That's because we had a vice-versa party shortly before leaving on the trip and I took the depilation to the extreme. So with that and a bit of practice in high heels it was all worth it. I got the prize of best looking girl.

Title Defence 1983

The early part of the 1983 Harrier season was not very successful for me. Despite a good showing at the Shaw Baton Relay where I ran a record time (see earlier post) I ran fairly dismally in the Dorne Cup and Vosseler Shield. Then, in a pattern which tended to repeat over the years, I came right for the Interprovincial Cross Country.

This time the interprovincial was held at a rather muddy and rather hilly course near Bunnythorpe and the field was a reasonably strong one, containing Euan Robertson, Brian Ward, Graeme Jones, Eric Cairns, Tony Woodhouse, Barry Prosser and Ken Keyte. It was a step up for me for this event and I finally managed to win one. From what I remember of the race it was not that I ran away from everyone, like in the Wellington Champs of the previous year, but that everyone else faded. You get this on muddy courses sometimes, where everyone in shoes has to battle the extra weight of the mud but the barefoot boys are as free as ever. My winning time was 43:44 with Brian Ward second (44:08) and Euan Robertson third (44:21). The times give an indication of how difficult the course was.

Leading Brian Ward, Steve Hunt and Alan just after the start of the race. I remember Dan O'Connell leading early in the race, he may be ahead and out of shot.

Two weeks later I was very determined to defend the Wellington Cross Country title and reasonably confident I had the fitness to do so.

From the start the pace was hot. Dan O'Connell led around the first lap in an astonishing 9:07 but then faded. The leading bunch then sorted itself out into Steve Hunt, Phil Barnes, Tony Woodhouse and me. The ground was very hard this year and, with the way I grip using my toes whilst running barefoot, I could feel blisters forming on the big and second toes.

Into the last lap, Phil Barnes leads Tony Woodhouse and Steve Hunt. I'm tagged off a bit and pondering a fourth place finish.

Heading into the last lap, Phil Barnes, Tony Woodhouse and Stee Hunt had put the acid on me and had opened a gap of around 20 metres. Feeling pretty tired, I had resigned myself to missing out on even a medal but approaching my favourite part of the course I'd managed to haul myself back up to the leaders. I remember thinking that if they were prepared to let me catch up with them they weren't going to beat me with only half a lap left.

I overtook Steve just before the roller coaster part of the course and as I did so, the blister on my big toe popped and squirted blood up my singlet, across my shoulder and into Steve's face (yuck). I then ran alongside Phil and managed to manoeuvre him into the back of a lapped runner after which I took off and never looked back until the finish.

This photo from the newspaper illustrates just how hard it was.

Approaching the finish with no one in sight behind.

It was the hardest I had ever run and not a whole lot slower than the previous year. My winning time was 37:57 with Phil Barnes finishing ten seconds back in 38:07 and Tony Woodhouse third in 38:13.

Showing the toll of the race after the finish. Dan O'Connell looks like he could do another lap.

Aftermath

I now know what Barry Ellis meant when he described feeling like a shell after the cross country trial earlier in the year. I was completely spent.

That evening a few of us headed up to Hawera for a party, I think it was to celebrate Wayne Duckett's birthday. As usual we headed out for a good Sunday run the next morning. But it wasn't good for me. I struggled to get up to any pace and eventually even though we were running on reasonably flat road, my foot decided to give way and gave me a sharp stab. I limped back to the Savage's place but the foot was no good and put paid to any aspirations I had at the Nationals that year.

In the end Derek Froude (representing Wellington although resident in Australia at the time) won the National Cross Country and Tony Woodhouse was third. Wellington also won the teams competition so a golden opportunity for me went begging again.

The lesson I learnt from this was that if you run yourself right to your limits, it's a good idea to take the day off afterwards.

Molenberg Mile Series - 1983

The organisers of the Molenberg Mile, based on the success of the Queen Street Mile in 1982, decided to make a series of it in 1983 with different venues and different surfaces. The races were held on the trotting track at Addington in Christchurch, the flat road at Mount Maunganui, the beach at Paraparaumu and the classic downhill of Queen Street in Auckland.

Paraparumu Beach

I didn't get invited to either the Addington or Mount Maunganui events but, since I was a local, got the nod to race on the beach at Paraparaumu. It wasn't a particularly nice day but could've been much worse if it had been blowing a strong northerly.

Running on sand is not an easy task. It tends to sink under your feet and gives nothing back for any drive you do off the ankles. It's best to try and run with a good knee lift and flattish feet. I decided to run in my favourite footwear. Nothing. In bare feet you can get a feel of how the sand is slipping under your feet and adjust for it. In spikes you get none of this and probably run the same way as you would on the track. This is likely to cost you towards the end of the race.

Just after the start. From left to right are Russell Haswell, Ray Flynn, Mike Boit, Michael Hillardt, Steve Scott, Tony Rogers, B Crew, me and Liam Healy.

From the gun I took the pace, led through the quarter and was still with the top runners at half way. After that Mike Boit, Steve Scott, Ray Flynn and Tony Rogers ran away from me but Tony began to fade towards the end and only finished a second in front of me. No one else came past.

Mike Boit won in what was an excellent time of 3:57.46 for the conditions. Steve Scott was second in 3:58.80, Ray Flynn third in 4:01.60, Tony Rogers fourth in 4:08.33 and I was fifth in 4:09.69.

After the races were over we did a bit of socialising, part of which was a trip to Kapiti Island. Mike Boit was not a very happy sailor and I can remember him dressed up in yellow rain gear with the hood up, black face showing with white teeth gritted, gripping to the windscreen rail as if his life depended on it. If his hands hadn't been so dark I'm sure his knuckles would've been white. Once back to the beach he became more relaxed and we had a nice fire where we toasted weenies and marshmallows into the night.

Queen Street

It was much the same story as 1982 for the Queen Street mile. The only difference for me was that I ran the first part of the race a couple of seconds quicker and paid for it at the other end with my final time being a couple of seconds slower. I ran through the quarter in 52 seconds and was still with the leaders at halfway in 1:42. But then my condition gave out and I faded to finish last in 3:42.85. There's a YouTube video of the race and you can see my stride become a bit ragged as I really start to struggle after halfway.

Mike Boit's time of 3:28.36 was the fastest mile that had ever been run.

Full results

1	Mike Boit	3:28.36
2	Steve Scott	3:29.44
3	Ray Flynn	3:29.66
4	Michael Hillardt	3:32.33
5	Mike Malloy	3:32.48
6	B Crew	3:35.02
7	Tony Rogers	3:38.21
8	Russell Haswell	3:40.10
9	Mark Handley	3:42.48

A Busy Weekend - February 1983

Saturday 26 February 1983 - Cooks Gardens

I received an invitation from Russell Sears, who was organising the Cooks Gardens athletic meeting in Wanganui, to compete in a mile. I jumped at the chance because the field would be a strong one and there was a chance that I could achieve one of my lifetime ambitions, to break the four minute mile.

A strong field had been assembled which included John Walker, Tony Rogers and Mike Molloy. There were a few strong runners from the West Coast North Island centre at the time but I can't remember who was in the race and whether they were used as pacemakers. All I remember was the times.

Cooks Gardens in those days was a short track of around 365 metres. For the mile you started in the back straight and once past the finish line for the first time you still had four laps to run. The callers of the lap times moved every lap so you would get the call in a different place. The first lap call was 58 seconds so everything was on schedule. The effort then increased a little for the second lap (as you need to do in a mile just to maintain the pace) and the second call was 1:58. Still good. But it's the third lap that's the difficult one. It's the third lap when you need to keep up the concentration and increase the effort even more just to stay with it. And it was the third lap where it slipped. The call was 3:01 and I thought "Shit, I'm really going to have to dig in here". The trouble was I was running Cooks Gardens as if it was a normal 400m track, where usually you have a good 100m run to the line. So I wound up my pace and went for it down the straight, trying to overtake Mike Molloy, but before I knew it I'd crossed the finish line, the straight was so short. I sort of knew I hadn't got there and there was quite a long wait for the official results.

John Walker won in 3:54.65 with Tony Rogers second in 3:57.19. Mike Malloy and I both dipped out with 4:00.24 and 4:00.38 respectively. Still I thought there would always be another day.

Sunday 27 February 1983 - Round the Bays

I wouldn't normally run another race just hours after having run a four minute mile but there was a lot of peer pressure from my workmates at Challenge Computers to be part of the team for the Round the Bays. But not only did they want me to be part of the team, they expected me to win it.

I'm not too certain of my memory but I think in those days the course was a bit longer than it is now, with the start being past the Railway Station on Aotea Quay. The field was enormous, as it still is these days, and it was very difficult to get into a decent position at the start line. I stuck with the rest of my team for the start and had to work my way through the throngs before getting into the lead after Point Jerningham. I was fortunate that none of the really top Wellington runners turned out and I managed to win comfortably in 23:55. Kapiti club mate Rob DeBique took second place in 24:23 and Alan Cox was third in 24:27.

Triple Wellington Champion 1983

A week after the disappointment of the Cross Country Trial the Wellington Track Champs were held.

On the first day of competition I was preparing to take on the 800m, 5000m double. I had run the 800m plenty of times but never competed at the championships over 5000m before. To win this double I would have to compete in three races in the one day: heats and final for the 800 and a straight final for the 5000.

Brian Turnbull had been the Wellington 800m champion for as long as I'd been competing but on this occasion he was a no show. Brian had such speed he could run the first lap of the 800 in around 52 seconds. If I'd tried that I would've been running a PB, so I'd be left floundering way back in about 56. The difference was I could do another lap at around the same pace whereas Brian would be running around a minute. This meant I'd catch him on the home straight but he'd dig in and hold me out. So with no Brain I sensed an opportunity.

I successfully negotiated the heats in 2:02.7 and in the final Alastair Leslie made the pace around the first lap in just under 56 seconds (much more comfortable than Brian's normal pace). He didn't slow down either and we both kept up the same pace, leaving the rest of the field behind, until the home straight. I then lifted my pace and eased past Alastair to win in 1:52.5, which was a personal best by nearly two seconds. Alastair also clocked a PB of1:52.8 (I suspect these times remain our best).

Winning the first of my 1983 track titles, the 800m from Alastair Leslie.

40 minutes later the 5000m final was due to be held. Knowing I wouldn't need much of a warm up I just tried to keep my legs moving by doing an inverted bicycle. I swapped my spikes for a pair of racing flats and I was ready for the 5000.

Winning this was never going to be easy as in the field contained Dallas McCallum and Derek Froude (who had gained selection for the cross country team after the trial the previous week). Derek's tactics were sensible: make the pace too hot for me and the title would be his. I knew that's what he'd be doing so just hung in there. Try as he might, he couldn't shake me and once into the home straight I sprinted away from him to win in 14:25.3. Derek clocked 14:26.4 and Dallas came home in third with 14:33.4.

A few years later I was approached by sports statistician Peter Heidenstrom who suggested it may have been the fastest 800m/5000m double ever run in New Zealand. I never did find out whether he was able to confirm that.

The second day of the championships was a week later. Buoyed by my double success of the previous week I foolishly attempted another: the 400m/1500m double. This would mean running four races in one day.

The 400m was not a success. I drew lane eight and had nobody to run off so just went as hard as I could. Barry Mayo and Stu Hildreth both slipped through inside me off the final bend and I finished third in 52.3 (which incidentally is a personal best). Barry, who I'd beaten many a time over 800, won the race in 51.7.

In the 1500m final Steve Walshe made the early pace, completing the first lap in 60 seconds but the pace was not to last. Alastair took up the pace with just over a lap to go and I confidently went with him. Once we reached the home straight I called on the legs to deliver their usual finishing burst but something was wrong, they weren't responding. I suspect it was the effects of the 400 allied with the pace of the 1500 that had finally got to them (curse my arrogance). But I was not to be outdone, I kept on as hard as I could and finally over the last 20m Alastair's legs had come to the end of their run whilst mine were still functioning. I crept past to win in 3:48.9. Alastair was given 3:49.1 and with Steve Walshe third in 3:52.4 this was the fastest Wellington Champs 1500m I'd been in.

Just got there. Pipping Alastair in the 1500m.