Tauranga Twilight 1985 - John Walker's 92nd Sub 4 Mile

It's hard to believe this was thirty years ago today.

Probably my favourite photo of myself running. After about 250 metres things were quite relaxed.

It's amazing what can transpire at New Year's Eve parties.

I'd normally go up to Tauranga over the new year period to get some good training in and race over 3000m at the twilight meeting on New Year's day. But John Walker was looking at extending his tally of sub four minute miles up to 100 and was taking every opportunity available to get there. The Tauranga Twilight meeting just happened to be another opportunity. However the organisers were finding it difficult to arrange a pacemaker and approached me with an inducement of a dozen beer. I accepted.

Unfortunately the summer had been a bit wetter than usual, which left the track a little soft, and the wind, if not strong by Wellington standards, was quite steady and hampering. John wasn't too sure whether the attempt would be worth it and as we jogged around together he was umming and aahing as to whether to make the attempt or not. This struck me as strange from a guy who always seemed confident of his abilities but years later I saw a documentary about his first breaking 3:50 for the mile and there was the same guy wondering if the conditions would be against him. Finally, about halfway through the warmup, the decision was made to go for the mile.

The field for the mile was a pretty strong one and included Russell Haswell, Mark Furlan and Kerry Roger but the pace which I was to set meant that they'd be left well behind, running for second.

I knew my pace pretty well by this stage in my career and set off to run the first lap in around 58 seconds but John called at me from behind saying "Go faster" so I did. We got through the first lap in 57 and I carried on into the second lap but things became a bit more difficult. I had hoped to carry on for another 200 metres or so after the half mile but unfortunately the softish track and steady breeze precluded this and I had to let John go on his own after I got through the half mile in 1:57 (which was a full second quicker than the 800m was won in that day).

At about 650 metres things aren't looking so comfortable.

John carried on to finish in 3:58.9 which was really impressive given the conditions. The rest of the field were more than ten seconds behind.

The black and white photo above (or at least one very similar to it) was to reappear in The Herald years later, in 2013, when the Queen Street mile was resurrected.

Nike Capital 15k (and the Legend of the Beer)

In the early 80s someone in the Scottish had the idea of staging a road race around the bays which would attract the cream of runners from around the country. Run at the end of November, the race was over the unusual distance of 15km and was mostly flat but contained a substantial climb over Awa Road in Miramar. This should have had the effect of slowing the times somewhat. There was also a prize awarded for the first runner past the Greta Point Tavern which was located at the 5km point. The prize was a dozen beer and was much coveted by many a runner in Wellington.

The first race was held in 1982 and, even though I'd won the Wellington Dross Country Champs, I didn't fancy my chances of lasting the full distance with the quality of runners in the field. However, I did think I could beat most people over 5km and earn my refreshment.

The task didn't prove all that difficult on the first occasion, it was just a matter of hanging in there at a 15k pace and sprinting away once in sight of the entrance to the Great Point. But it still took a bit out of me and I let several people past me before regathering my faculties and deciding I could actually finish reasonable well up. In the end it was Dallas McCallum who took the victory (and the prize of a trip to a marathon in Australia) in a decent time, considering the terrain, of 45:25. I worked my way back through the field to finish second and, in addition to my dozen beer, won an electric barbeque. How useful is an electric barbeque? you may ask. I did use it, but not very often.

By 1983 a few more people had wised up to the idea that there was a dozen on offer for the leader after 5k so the runners at the head of the field didn't look so much like those who were gong to complete the distance as they had the previous year. Initially it was Pat Meffan who made the pace to Point Jerningham, then it was just Mike Gilchrist (a really good 1500 runner) and me battling it out to Greta Point. I got there in a time of 14:04 (it must have been a tail wind) and took a rest while the better runners in the field went past. Mike carried on and held out all challenges except the one from Brent Addison who overtook him just before the tunnel under the airport runway. Brent won in 46:14 and although I rallied towards the end I couldn't get past Mike, who finished three seconds in front of me in 46:30.

1984 saw even hotter competition for the beer. This time the major contender was Phil Barnes and we got to the Greta Point in 14 minutes, but again I prevailed. However, this time there was to be no great recovery and I finished well back. Phil held on well and battled it out with Alastair Leslie for the honours. Alastair prevailed in 45:45 after running away from Phil inside the last kilometre.

Years later I managed to anchor a team of 50 year olds home in the University Relay. The prize was a dozen beer each. There were comments made that if there's beer a stake I'm unbeatable (but this ignores the fact that there was beer at stake the previous year and we didn't win it). It's just the stuff of legends.

No Defence - 1984

Going into the 1984 cross country season I had a new plan for my training. I'd decided that I was too soft over the longer distances and the way to remedy this was to work harder on the anaerobic phase of my training. You may wonder, why change a formula which was working? but in order to achieve a goal of representing New Zealand I felt I had to change something in training to improve my performance in racing, especially over the longer distances. So instead of doing an unknown number repetitions over an unknown distance, in an unknown time over parkland, I decided to go to the track and do a predetermined number measured reps in a predefined time. In my case this tended to be 10 x 400m repetitions in 60 seconds with a 400m jog recovery. The mileage and hill phases of the training remained the same.

As usual I ran poorly in the Dorne Cup but improved my performance in the Vosseler Shield. The latter race ended up being a classic showdown between Dallas McCallum and me. Dallas, being his normal aggressive self, put the pace on almost from the start and with me being the only one game enough to go with him, we quickly established a huge gap on the rest of the field. Dallas wasn't happy that I was keeping up with him and kept putting in bursts over the opening lap. By the time we got down to the Badminton Hall towards the end of the first lap I was beginning to doubt that I could keep up the pace he was setting, so when he put in another burst I decided to let him go. That was all he needed, he'd established a gap and he defended it until the finish. His winning time was 35:34 and I was nine seconds back.

Years later Dallas would tell me that if I'd've stuck with him at the crucial stage he would've given it away. Knowing him, somehow I doubt it.

I won the interprovincial cross country again so things were looking pretty good for a third Wellington cross country title. Little did I know the training I'd been doing had been taking its toll on my body.

Dallas makes the pace from the start leading me, Barry Prosser and Phil Barnes.

There were no surprises in the way Dallas tackled the race. He went to the lead from the start and tried to make the pace so hot nobody could stick with him. But I did. Initially I found the pace comfortable enough but before too long I ran into problems. Fairly suddenly my breathing packed up and my legs ceased to function as they normally do. I had to let Dallas go and didn't have any ability to latch on to anyone else as they came past.

Alan and Alastair battle it out for second.

Into one of the later laps. It appears that I have given up.

Alan almost keeps it in the family, finishing second.

The picture that began it all. Sprinting in with Gary Weston-Webb for 10th place.

Finally Gary Weston-Webb caught me but it was within sight of the finish line so I wasn't going to let him past.

Aftermath

After that performance and another below par one at the nationals I decided to go to the doctor and get things checked out. What the tests showed was that, although my haemoglobin was fine, my ferritin levels were pretty low. The doctor prescribed a course of Ferrogradumet and in a few weeks time, after giving away the repetitions and reverting to a pure mileage regime, I was back to a good level again.

The first lap of the Wellington to Masterton Relay 1984. Alastair leads me, Euan Robertson, Mark Furlan and Dave Hatfield.

The National Roady Relay was the Wellington to Masterton and, despite indulging in a few celebratory pints the night before, I got out and ran one of my best road races ever. Alastair was the fastest on the day, getting the drop on me just before the Petone overbridge, and we did beat a lot of classy runners.

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.