Races – Page 3 – My Second Running Life

Top 5 Athletics Performances

I thought it would be fun to highlight individual performances that have inspired and motivated me. As you’ll see, it isn’t necessary that the person I’m writing about won the race in question. This is all about their effort on the day.

Steve Prefontaine, Munich 5000m Final

I’ll start with a confession: on my own race mornings, I used to watch the video of this great individual performance to get myself into the right frame of mind. BBC commentator David Coleman’s description of Steve Prefontaine, the brash American, as “a sort of athletic Beatle” is classic.

Setting the scene, Prefontaine was running in what would be his only Olympic final, against a deep field. With two slow miles behind them, Pre boldly “states his case” to lead to the finish. As a pack of five separates itself with two laps to go, the Finn Lasse Viren asserts control. Is it over? No, not with Pre in the mix. Time and again, he fights to regain the lead. Coleman’s fateful comment, with 200m to go, that “these are the medal men” would turn out to be wrong, as a totally spent Pre is passed in the last few metres by Ian Stewart. Viren won gold.

Measured by the result… fourth, and out of the medals… this could be seen as a foolish gamble by the inexperienced young American. Instead, I look at it as the epitome of racing. There was no playing it safe for Prefontaine. No wonder I get goosebumps every time I watch the video.

Prefontaine gambles it all, Munich Olympics 5000m final (Photo from Track and Field News)

Mo Ahmed, Paris 10,000m Final

At the risk of repeating myself, I’ve chosen another Olympic finals performance that left the runner out of the medals. This time, it was Canadian Mo Ahmed in the Paris 2024 Olympics 10,000m final.

Ahmed ran what might be the smartest race I’ve ever seen. He stayed out of trouble in a top-class field, paced himself beautifully, and was in contention against team tactics of other runners until the final 30 metres. I thought I might have been the only one who noticed his deceptively smart racing, until I heard David Moorcroft (broadcasting for CBC) make the same observation.

Finishing with nothing in the tank, Ahmed’s performance (26:43.79) was good for fourth place. That he and 12 other finishers were well under the previous Olympic record attests to the quality of the field. It was a spectacular race, and one where Ahmed demonstrated that he belonged with the very best.

Mo Ahmed shines in the Paris 10,000m final (Photo from Athletics Canada)

Paula Radcliffe, 2003 London Marathon

In 2002 and 2003, Paula Radcliffe was on top of the marathon world. She had set a world record in Chicago in October 2002, running 2:17:18, so there was great anticipation for her race the following spring in London. Running before her home crowd, Radcliffe didn’t disappoint. Leading from start to finish, she shattered her own world record, en route to an astonishing 2:15:25. Her nearest competitor was more than four minutes behind her.

I have a tenuous connection to Radcliffe’s race. You see, I was on the same course that sunny April morning in London. Admittedly I finished nearly an hour behind her. I’ve replayed the videos and read the stories so many times to fully grasp what Paula achieved. The strain on her face in the final few kilometres shows how much she wanted this result.

In an era before supershoes and without any team support, Radcliffe delivered a courageous performance, well deserving of being in my top 5.

Filbert Bayi, Christchurch 1,500m Final

In recent years, the Commonwealth Games have struggled to remain relevant. Competition from other mega-events (like the Olympics and the World Cup) and other *um, political* factors have led prospective host cities to back away from the Games.

Whatever the future holds, the Games have been host to some great athletics history. Here’s a case in point. In 1974, the young Tanzanian runner, Filbert Bayi, was relatively unknown. That didn’t stop him from taking on a handful of the world’s best in the 1,500m final in Christchurch, New Zealand. His race was one of the most audacious performances of all time. He led from start to finish and set a world record of 3:32.2. Not only that, he beat the hometown favourite, Kiwi John Walker.

Bayi’s account of the race, in a wonderful Athletics Weekly article, leaves no doubt that he trusted his front-running strategy. “I was confident that anyone trying to close the gap over the last 100m or 200m would have a real fight on their hands,” he states. And with the field in a pack bearing down on him, his plans were certainly put to the test. In the end, Bayi beat Walker by a couple of strides. He knew immediately the importance of what he had achieved. It was a perfectly executed race.

Filbert Bayi leads John Walker and the rest to the finish (Photo from Athletics Weekly)

Roger Bannister, 1954 Mile Double

Even as the 1,500m has largely eclipsed the mile as the middle distance standard, it’s worth noting that the mile continues to get attention. In the last week, the men’s indoor mile record has been broken… not once, but twice. So it is worth looking back to the furor that surrounded Roger Bannister in 1954.

Cheating a little, I will highlight two of Sir Roger’s epic performances. His epic May 1954 run to break the four-minute barrier for the first time is the race everyone knows about. But I would suggest that with his performance in Vancouver at the then-called Empire Games in August, Bannister put an exclamation mark on his miraculous year.

By August 7, Bannister’s record time had already been beaten by Australian John Landy. The Vancouver race was the first time they competed head-to-head. The race generated global hype, and it became known as the Miracle Mile. Although Landy led most of the way, he made a fateful error on the last corner, looking to his left for the hard-charging Bannister. Sensing Landy’s weakness, Bannister passed on the right and didn’t let up. He reached the finish in 3:58.8, five yards and 0.8 seconds ahead of Landy.

I’ve written about Bannister, here and here. What impresses me most about him is that he competed as a pure amateur. As memorable as his exploits on the track were, he never considered them to be his greatest personal achievement.

So that’s my top 5. I could have easily found a top 10, but one has to draw the line somewhere! I’d be interested in any thoughts on these performances, and any that my readers are convinced I’ve missed.

Until next time, be well and BE FAST!

Remembering Jerome Drayton

Recently, I wrote a piece about several of my sporting heroes. To keep the piece to a reasonable length, I didn’t comment on another man who had certainly earned a place on my list. In fact, he had been one of my personal heroes for years. That man is Jerome Drayton. In light of his sudden passing on February 10 at the age of 80, I’m regretting that decision. It seems appropriate to talk about him now, and the impact he had on me.

Much has been written about Drayton. His personal story is one of strength and resilience. He was born in Germany to Russian-Ukranian parents, just as the war was coming to an end. His parents divorced, and he emigrated to Canada with his mother in 1956. His name at birth was Peter Buniak, and while we hear various reasons for his change of name, it was clearly his way of putting distance between his past in Europe and his future life in Canada.

He started running in high school in Toronto and found early success. More accurately, he earned it. His results speak volumes about his work ethic. I can start with his astounding mileage totals. He was a pure amateur, doing 200-mile weeks while working full-time. Mere mortals struggle to reach a quarter of that.

While I was discovering athletics in the mid-1970s, Drayton was already in the top echelon of the sport. I never met him, but I followed his exploits closely. Here’s some of what I wrote about him in Stroke of Luck:

“Coincidentally, the world around us was discovering running at the same time we were. The mid- to late-1970s marked the beginning of what is now called the running boom. Frank Shorter’s win in the 1972 Olympic Marathon for the United States is often cited as the beginning of the boom, but I wonder how strongly that event resonated in Canada. If we were following any world class distance runners, it was more likely to be the top Canadian, Jerome Drayton, or even some of the top British runners like Ron Hill, rather than the celebrated American.”

Drayton’s running resume is stellar. In an era when distance running was still seen as a fringe sport, Drayton fit the stereotype of the lone, somewhat aloof, character. Obituaries and tributes describe his single-mindedness and determination.

In my book, I described Drayton as an enigma, given his preference for running in dark aviator shades and a tendency to front-run against his toughest competitors. Perhaps fitting that persona, Drayton never seemed to say much. He let his running speak for itself.

Consider this: long before Boston assumed the title of “world’s premier marathon”, the Fukuoka Marathon in Japan was at the pinnacle of the sport. Entry was by invitation only. Drayton won it, THREE TIMES, in 1969, 1975 and 1976. What about Boston? Well, he won that too, in 1977. He was the last Canadian man to do so.

Drayton in the 1976 Fukuoka Marathon (Photo from Canadian Running, 2013)

Speaking of Boston, I suppose we could add “irascible” to the list of words describing Drayton. Apparently, he wasn’t the most gracious winner. Rather, he took the opportunity to point out that he had just about been mugged in the early going, and that his victory had nearly been sabotaged by the lack of water stations. Hearing this story only made me admire him more. Any of us who have run the race can thank Drayton for dragging the BAA into the modern era.

I have to mention the most durable of Drayton’s achievements, his Canadian marathon record. He set the record (2:10:08) in the 1975 Fukuoka Marathon, and it stood for an incredible 43 years until Cam Levins broke it in the 2018 Toronto Waterfront Marathon.

There was a Hamilton connection too, which cemented Drayton’s place as one of my running heroes. Here’s another passage from my book, where I talked about his victories in the Around the Bay Race:

“The history of the Boston Marathon is intertwined with that other famous race, Hamilton’s own Around the Bay Race. Both races were first contested in the 1890s. Many icons of distance running, including some legendary Canadians, had competed in both events. The lists of past winners in Boston and Hamilton include many names that I recognized, even idolized. There was Jerome Drayton, the top Canadian marathoner, the national marathon record holder, and the 1977 Boston winner. He was also a two-time winner of the Bay Race, in 1973 and 1974.”

Drayton, alone in the lead at ATB (Photo from Hamilton Archives)

In the 1970s, finding any athletics news at all was tough. I scoured a lot of newspapers. Despite the sport’s relatively low profile, Drayton stood tall. His star shone brightly until his retirement in the early 1980s. When his racing days were behind him, Drayton was a reclusive role model. He appeared from time to time in interviews… this one in Canadian Running Magazine from 2009 is excellent… and when his Canadian record was finally beaten, he was gracious. He expressed surprise that it had taken so long.

In his later years, Drayton took on advisory roles with government sports agencies. He shunned publicity and lived a modest life in Toronto. Some stories mentioned his struggles with arthritis, which may have contributed to his unexpected death. The news reports I’ve read suggest his death came during knee surgery. Sadly ironic, for a man whose legs had carried him to the top of the marathon world half a century earlier.

Jerome Drayton was a true sporting legend, whose place in Canadian sporting history won’t easily be matched.

Until next time, be well and (emulating Drayton) BE FAST!

Homage to GAP 1.0

Today’s run was just what I needed.

I had a late evening return flight from Ontario yesterday, so I was feeling a bit out of sorts as I parked next to the Glenmore Athletic Park (GAP) track. A high school track meet was in full swing. I watched from trackside for a few minutes, absorbing waves of energy and hearing the screams of hundreds of students as they cheered on their teammates. It motivated me to get going on my short and overdue run.

I’d been thinking for some time about a homage post to the GAP track. I should say the original GAP track (GAP 1.0), because a spiffy new facility is being constructed by CANA, just a short distance away. I have a lot of criticism for decisions coming out of Calgary city hall but this isn’t one of them. I can’t wait for the new facility to be finished.

The grandstands have been taken down and moved to the new track. The brilliant blue of the new surface looks magnificent and oh so ready for spiked shoes. Crews are working on the finishing touches, like landscaping. It will soon be the dawn of an exciting new era in track and field in Calgary.

It seems timely to say a few words about GAP 1.0. I’ll be honest. The place is definitely looking worse for wear. Chunks of Lane 1 are crumbling into the infield. Patches and cracks are plentiful, thanks to our winter freeze-thaw cycles. The spotting booth on the back straight has been taken over by pigeons.

I did a little research and found out that GAP 1.0 was built in 1962-63. It’s just a couple of years younger than me. No wonder it has cracks and wrinkles!

Despite these blemishes, the track has also been the site of countless track meets, interval workouts and road race finishes. I’ve personally done thousands of laps of the track, in all sorts of weather. And that’s a good segue to the fact that the Calgary running community has been second to none when it comes to keeping a lane or two of GAP 1.0 open through the winter months. All it takes is willpower and a lot of shovels, as demonstrated in this shot from October 2023.

Here’s a shot of an interval session from late March. It was one of those Calgary spring evenings when we started with water in the far corner and ended with sheet ice. No one complained when we decided to cut things short.

Or how about a photo from the 2019 Stampede Road Race? The park was a beehive of activity that morning, with lots of racing action and a pancake breakfast as our reward.

A recent track racing milestone got me thinking nostalgically about GAP 1.0. It was on May 6, 2024, the seventieth anniversary of Roger Bannister’s four-minute mile breakthrough on the Iffley Road track in Oxford, England.

It seemed fitting to make a brief pilgrimage, in pouring rain, to run four ceremonial laps in honour of this great achievement. After all, the GAP track is only 10 years younger than Bannister’s record. I pointed out the significance of the day to a young athlete who had just finished his track workout. He gave me a polite but puzzled smile. I secretly wished for him to do the same on the hundredth anniversary in 2054, running his commemorative laps on the new track.

In closing, I have many fond memories of running on the GAP 1.0 track. I don’t know what lies ahead, but if they do tear it down I’ll miss that familiar red surface, flaws and all. For years, it has been a great venue and meeting place for runners. It’s one of my favourite spots in the city.

So here’s to a good run for a fine old facility! And here’s to GAP 2.0… can’t wait to try out “big blue”.

Until next time, be well and BE FAST!

Arizona Dreaming – Part 1

XTerra Black Canyon Trail Race

It was a monster day of trail racing. An early start on a rainy St. Patrick’s Day morning in central Arizona didn’t deter a large Adrenaline Rush contingent for the Black Canyon XTerra trail races.

Our runners toed the line in the 7k, 11k and Half Marathon distances… sadly there were no takers for the marathon. The rain eased up just in time and gave way to perfect racing conditions on the scenic course in the Sonoran Desert.

Early morning in the Sonoran Desert (March 17, 2024)

Allison Blackmore and Mark Martens were off first in the half marathon. Allison smoothly made her way around the course, a challenging mix of single track and horse trail. Her legs held up until the 16k mark, and she managed the fatigue induced by 525m of elevation gain. Allison nailed down a first-place finish in the F55-59 age group and was fourth overall female in a time of 2:01.

A stir went through the crowd when word spread of a Sasquatch sighting on the trail. Of course, it was only Mark, who overcame a few nagging injuries that have kept him out of interval training for the winter. He put in a solid performance, finishing in 2:19 and fifth in the M50-54 AG. His performance leaves him optimistic about his chances in the upcoming HM in Mississauga.

142 runners tackled the 11k, including four AR racers, who left a definite mark on the event. Al Blackmore continued his recent good form by racing to an 18th-place finish. He looked very comfortable running to an excellent time of 1:08. This was good for third in the highly competitive M60-64 AG.

Doreen Katchmar admitted she couldn’t sleep the night before the race, worrying about getting lost on the course. Fortunately, the XTerra route was extremely well-marked. That meant Doreen could focus on staying upright and running strong… and it was mission accomplished! She turned in a nifty performance of 1:19 and first in her F60-64 AG. What a result!

Carolyn Leonard enjoyed the race and delivered a great performance. At 1:21, her time won her a first-place finish in the F55-59 category. The entertaining race announcer kept her in suspense, but there was never any doubt that she ran “the most perfect race.” Carolyn appreciated the supportive atmosphere among the racers on the trail.

Coach Janice McCaffrey got into the St. Patrick’s Day spirit (and was easily the best costume of the day, but sadly there was no such category). We heard later that she may have lost a bit of time on course when her green tutu got snagged on a Saguaro cactus. Fortunately she was carrying poles, which she put to good use, en route to a third-place AG result and a 1:29 time.

Debbie and I had modest expectations for the 7k, due to a sore hip and Achilles, respectively. Things started well, with Deb leading a small group of runners through the single-track section. That is until yours truly hit a rock and went down hard. After a brief pause, we carried on, but not before Deb had confirmed that no women in her age group had passed us. She need not have worried. In the immortal words of the race announcer, she was an “ultimate monster” with a convincing first-place finish in the F65-69 AG in 57:45. And me? I managed 2nd in my AG and was happy to still be upright.

Deb cruises past the horse stables and heads for home

Rita and Jamie Bertwell turned in awesome performances on what they described as their “first day of training.” They looked like race veterans as they handled everything the course threw at them, including 10-12 fords of Black Canyon Creek in the last 2k. Jamie noted that while it wasn’t a contest, he did notch one better AG place in his race than Mark did. And Rita? She was a cool 5th. Our intrepid announcer called it correctly for their hand-in-hand 1:22 finish: “Now THIS is what it’s all about!”

And in summary, those words rang true for all the AR racers on the day.

What a day at the races for Adrenaline Rush!

Quite a Week!

Owl’s Nest Book Launch – Calgary

On Wednesday, February 7 we held a book launch event at our favourite local indie book store, Owl’s Nest Books. Sarah Pratt, the Events Director at the store (and an avid ultramarathoner) was our marvelous host for the evening.

We were thrilled to welcome a standing-room crowd of friends, neighbours, teammates and work colleagues. I was honoured that my neurologist (Dr. Demchuk) and my long-time teammate at Adrenaline Rush Athletics (Dr. Stephen Wood)… both heroes of my stroke story… joined us for the evening.

I did a short reading from Stroke of Luck: My Life in Amateur Athletics. During the lively Q&A portion of the program, I shared my main messages:

the importance of an active lifestyle
knowing ALL the signs of stroke
raising awareness (and funds) for the world-class stroke care provided by the doctors, nurses and staff in the Foothills Stroke Unit

Owl’s Nest book launch (February 7, 2024)

Sincere thanks to Sarah at Owl’s Nest Books and Jeremy Deere from Strides Running Store, for your support of the reading and running communities in Calgary.

It was a special evening!

First Half Marathon – Vancouver

We didn’t get much time to recover, as we headed off to Vancouver on Friday for a weekend visit with Matthew. The headline purpose of the trip was to participate in the annual First Half Marathon, put on by RunVan and sponsored by BlueShore Financial.

As usual, the race was outstanding. It sold out immediately, as it does every year. This is definitely one of the premier races in Canada; well-organized and perfectly executed. It doesn’t hurt that the scenery is second to none. The highlight is the lap of the Stanley Park seawall.

I wrote about my history with the race in a previous post. This year, our race was challenging. The weather did not cooperate, although the steady rain was little more than an inconvenience. Deb and I were both hobbled by nagging injuries, which affected our preparation. While it is often true that one can run through these things on race day, neither of us was so lucky this time.

The second half of the race was a slog. The good news is that we got through it. The finish line on Drake St. in Yaletown is always a welcome sight. And who cares if we were a few minutes slower than last year?

It was all smiles at kilometre 6 (February 11, 2024) – Photo by Matt Kelly

…and a bit of street photography

I always look forward to walking the streets of Vancouver, armed with my discrete camera, the Ricoh GR III. It is the perfect camera for street photography.

Here are a few samples of the photos from the weekend.

Earl Grey GC Member Profile

In this, Heart Health Month, it was a great pleasure to sit down with Christa Abbott, Director of Marketing & Communications for Earl Grey Golf Club in Calgary. (I’m quite sure it used to be called Heart and Stroke Month, so I should be okay borrowing the older designation!)

I’ve been a member of Earl Grey for many years, although admittedly golf has taken second place behind running for most of that time.

Christa and I talked about my stroke journey… the medical one, not the golf one… about the role that running played in getting me through that ordeal, and about the process of writing my book, Stroke of Luck.

I was really pleased with the piece that Christa wrote, and in particular how she incorporated one of my main messages… the importance of knowing ALL the symptoms of stroke… into the graphic for her article. Here it is:

You can find the post on the club’s Instagram page here.

Christa neatly highlighted the phrase “BE FAST” as a reminder of the full range of stroke symptoms. You can read my post on this potentially life-saving topic here. I’ve included the information below, for quick reference.

And the picture of me that Christa used?

It was taken at about the 8k mark in the Calgary 10k race, in May 2017. I’ll be the first to admit it isn’t the best picture that’s ever been taken of me during a race. That said, when I do show this picture, I point out that I had just suffered a vertebral artery stroke a few minutes before it was taken!

For me, this is a stark reminder that strokes can affect any of us, at any time.

You can read the full story in Stroke of Luck: My Life in Amateur Athletics, available online at Amazon, or at independent bookstores, like our great local store, Owl’s Nest Books.

Thanks to all my friends at Earl Grey, and everyone else who has supported me in this initiative. Oh, that reminds me, there is one thing I plan to do in this next phase of my life (My Second Running Life)… suck a little less at golf!

Happy Heart Health (and Stroke) Month to all,

Steve