(26-02-2012, 11:34 AM)Bierzo Baggie Wrote: On the topic of Aussie marathon runners, do you know anything about a guy called Derek Clayton? (first sub 2:10 marathon, ran for Australia).
Well of course. Clayton is still around, though I don't think he runs any more, and though his name pops up from time to time it has been years since he ran a race. Hardly surprising given the insane way he pushed himself. There are still articles written about him in a "whatever happened to...?" kind of way, but I was certainly aware of him when I was growing up. He was a very tall guy for a marathoner and was famous mainly for smashing, nay annihilating Abebe Bikila's world record by nearly three minutes.
Clayton was one of these guys though who believed in doing all his training at race pace, and this of course did for him in the end. Major injuries destroyed his career, including of course the '68 Olympics where he should have been clear favourite to stop Bikila from getting his third Olympic marathon gold... ironic perhaps that injury did for both of them that year.
He was a three-fast-runs-a-day, 200-miles-per-week kind of runner. In other words, f*cking insane. Frankly, I can't be inspired by that kind of self-destructing mentality. Deek (Robert DeCastella) is much more my kind of role model. Yes he ran a lot too, but he believed in doing his long Sunday runs nice and slow. A good man is Robert, and he still shows up at races for a bit of a chat and to fire the starting gun. I think Clayton is an administrator somewhere. Maybe he can't stand the sight of mere fun runners, perhaps?
However my favourite photo that captures the idea of long distance running happens to be of Mr. Clayton - I like this a lot:
Run #1 of week #9 proved a tad difficult. After a long, hard weekend of way too much alcohol and rich food, I needed ideal running conditions to even really think about strapping on the Brooks joggers. So the 30C and 90% humidity was a killer.
The target was 22km and I only just made it. I'd deliberately gone out nice and slow but I still really struggled after about 12km or so. At 17km I actually stopped, stuck my head between my knees and had a long hard talk to myself about why I was doing this run. I must have listened well because the next 5km went much better and I even ran the last two at about race pace, although overall it was one of my slowest runs for several weeks.
I also clocked up 400km for the year and am already well past 200km for the month, with another run to go on the 29th - a bonus leap year run.
So that was my 25th and hardest run for the year, courtesy of a big boozy weekend and the damnably hot weather. But boy, I'm glad I stuck it out. It was also my 5th run for the year greater than half marathon distance.
It's all coming together, but for what? I'm ready for the party, but where is it? Hmm. We'll see what turns up - as I've no doubt it will.
(26-02-2012, 10:06 PM)Mid Life Crisis Man Wrote: He was a three-fast-runs-a-day, 200-miles-per-week kind of runner. In other words, f*cking insane.
Thanks for that about Derek Clayton. I really didn’t know anything about him. Even his Wikipedia page is surprisingly short of details. Noticed that he was born in Cumbria which is fell running country.
Anyway, I did a bit of research on UK runners who have got below 2:10 for the marathon.
1970s; Ron Hill and Ian Thompson.
1980s; Steve Jones (4 times) and Charlie Spedding (3 times) Geoff Smith, Alistair Hutton, Hugh Jones (twice) Mike Gratton, John Graham, Tony Milovsorov (remember him, he was a Tipton Harrier!)
1990s; Paul Evans (3 times) Richard Nerurkar, Jon Brown.
And since then, only Mark Steinle in 2002 and Jon Brown again in 2005.
45 years later and there certainly wouldn’t be any Brits capable of beating Clayton’s time. Sorry I’ve only looked at the UK men, but there probably wouldn’t be any Aussies either. And Spanish marathon running seemed to peak in the 1990s.
I find these statistics pretty amazing. At the end of the 80s you’d have said that the next generation would be running the same times as the Kenyans are running now. 2 05 at least. What happened?
Sub 2:10 in 1967. Smashed Bikila’s record by 2 and a half minutes. Truly amazing.
Congratulations on clocking up over 400km ! Enjoying the reports so far...
(28-02-2012, 11:19 PM)Bierzo Baggie Wrote: ...
45 years later and there certainly wouldn’t be any Brits capable of beating Clayton’s time. Sorry I’ve only looked at the UK men, but there probably wouldn’t be any Aussies either. And Spanish marathon running seemed to peak in the 1990s.
I find these statistics pretty amazing. At the end of the 80s you’d have said that the next generation would be running the same times as the Kenyans are running now. 2 05 at least. What happened?
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Similar story (though fewer of them) here in Oz.
We had DeCastella and Monaghetti running 2:08s around 89/90 (Brad Camp ran 2:10 about then as well) and Pat Carroll clocked a 2:10 a few years later, but the current crop of Aussie champs (other than the occasional African import) are these days running 2:15s.
And on a global scale, it's very interesting that the fastest ever marathon time by a non-African is Da Costa's 2:06:05 back in 1998. These days that ranks as only the 65th fastest ever time!
(28-02-2012, 11:46 PM)Mid Life Crisis Man Wrote: And on a global scale, it's very interesting that the fastest ever marathon time by a non-African is Da Costa's 2:06:05 back in 1998. These days that ranks as only the 65th fastest ever time!
Not strictly true... Ryan Hall (US), Boston 2011 - just under 2:05, downhill with a tailwind!
February 2012 - Base Camp
