I’ve had good times, my personal bests for all distances
above 400m (excepting the steeplechase, which just goes to show Rog can’t jump)
are pretty respectable, I’ve got a box full of medals and I’ve represented my
country, in fact I’ve represented my Wifey’s country too (and she still won’t
forgive me for that). I’m far from being a household name but I’ve been a ‘known’
runner within the running community and, I think, I have the respect of my peers
for what I’ve achieved and how I’ve conducted myself as a runner. But, I’ve
also had times where I’ve been out injured, I’ve struggled to run to the form I
know I can achieve or I’ve just felt like I’m going nowhere. During these
periods of poor form it would be so easy to accept defeat and stop training
hard, run for fitness but don’t push yourself, after all it hurts to train hard,
doesn’t it. But I’m a stubborn old git and I tend to push through it, punishing
myself for no apparent return, until one day you turn a corner and you’re back
in competitive mode.
I know many former star runners who no longer compete, some
had injuries that just wouldn’t be fixed, others retired for reasons of their
own, I never ask. Perhaps one reason I keep going is that I was never a
schoolboy wonder, when I first started running my first 5k was over 18 minutes,
so a 17 minute 5k, whilst significantly slower than my best, just doesn’t seem
that bad.
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| I may not have been a star athlete in 1990, but I'd learnt how to win, and how to hold onto my watch picture as I crossed the line |
The good times came to me in 1993 when I won my 1st
Surrey 10000m title, with a time of 30:33.7. Until that point I’d been a
gradually improving club runner who was reliable but of B team standard. That
victory propelled me into the big time, within six weeks I was running at Crystal
Palace in the UK Champs. In front of full house I came dead last in the 3000m,
yet, because of my previous lack of form, I was still able to walk away with a
pb. I never became that big but I was always a contender in Surrey Champs and
even won an individual South of England silver medal. 1993-1996 were my first
peak.
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| getting ready to pounce past Mike Boyle to win my first major title, the Surrey 10000m, 1993 |
The good times came to a halt at the end of 1996, I’d won my
first cross country race, the South of Thames Junior, in November and was in
the form of my life. I had high hopes of a good position in the County Cross
Country Champs, which were taking place in December, even had thoughts of a
possible win (though I hadn’t expected Internationals Gary Staines and Jon Solly
to turn up). But a week before the race I went down with a cold, a really bad
cold. I rested up but really wanted to do the race. By the Saturday morning I
was feeling fine so I went for a mile jog, it was easy, great I was able to
race. That afternoon I hit the 1 mile point, in the 7.5 mile race, and it was
like hitting a wall. I had nothing, I pushed through, hurting like hell as
runner after runner took a place away from me. It was all I could do to hang
onto 18th place, the consolation being that Belgrave won the team
event for the first time in 30 years.
I rested after the race and I really struggled in January, I
couldn’t work it out so eventually I went to the doctors and it turned out I’d
been lucky, I’d only strained my heart. Rest and a gradual increase in training
activity were prescribed. 1997, by the previous three years standards, wasn’t a
great year, though I still managed 3rd in the Surrey 5000m Champs
and 10th in the Surrey Cross Country Champs, despite fracturing my
metatarsal in May and having a further nine weeks rest. In 1998 I tried hard to
regain my form of 1996 and was rewarded by my body telling me enough was
enough, it broke down and I was out for a further 5 months. In all honesty I
thought that was it, I couldn’t see myself getting back running, there was one
defining moment that made me want to try again though – One sunny day as I was
walking through Regents Park a runner from another club came past and said, in
a disparaging way, ‘didn’t you used to be a runner’ – well that was like a red
rag to a bull, he’d never come close to beating me and I had a feeling he never
would.
As you can imagine it was slow progress at first, my first
race back was in December, the Surrey Cross Country Champs, where I finished 66th.
I was back though and over the summer managed to get my 5000m times back to low
15 minutes, clearly I wasn’t as good as I’d been but I showed flashes of my old
form with a win in the Surrey 10000m and the 3rd fastest man in the
Surrey Road Relays. Soon after I was off to Germany and the lack of
distractions, housework, girlfriend, meant I was able to fully focus my
training, when I wasn’t working.
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| A little less hair and past my best but still able to win the Wimbledon 10k in 31:56 and avoid being run over by a Jag |
2000 started great, I set a huge pb when winning the Sidcup
10 and ran my 2nd fastest 10k time a few weeks later, 31:04. Solid
running continued until I tore my calf muscle in the Surrey 5000m Champs. It
was another setback and another tough summer. I was now 35, I couldn’t see me
having many years left at my peak. The next couple of years I was there or
thereabouts but I was more of an also ran, though, on my day, I pulled off the
odd race win in times that I’d be very happy to get within a minute of now. My
decision to run the 2003 London Marathon meant I was training even harder than
I’d done before and prior to the marathon I was in great shape. My marathon
time, 2:34.10 was no great shakes compared by my peers but that 1st
marathon is like going into the unknown and I was just glad I managed to get
round as my brain had been telling me to pull out from about 9 miles. The bonus
being Belgrave took silver in the South of England Champs.
Following the marathon I really struggled to get any form
back, sure there were a couple of 10ks run sub 32 minutes, but they were the
exception rather than the rule. At the time I was approaching 40 and saw this
as a reason to keep running. I was being realistic now, I couldn’t see me
regaining my best ever form and one thing that had kept me going was fighting
to keep my place in a very strong Belgrave team, I needed that fight to keep
going but now Belgrave was overrun with young talent, I needed a Masters team
to give me something to aim for. Belgrave just didn’t have the focus, so I took
the tough decision to leave and join Herne Hill. Incentive in place I was
running well, winning my 1st Masters race and placing 1st
M40 at the Alsager 5, and then a torn hamstring put paid to the summer that had
promised so much.
I managed to get back to form to help Herne Hill win the British
Masters Cross Country Relay Champs, but then another change I was off to
Scotland and years of shift work. I ran ok in Scotland, particularly in that
first year. But I was definitely slowing down, it was an opportunistic Rog who
found himself in the Edinburgh AC team that won the Scottish Road Relays in
2006, I took full advantage of my relay experience by taking EAC into the lead,
which we kept to the end. After that my form started to dwindle as my body felt
more and more tired from the ravages of night shift. I had some reasonable runs
in that time but I was a different athlete to the one I’d been in London.
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| Edinburgh days, still got a turn of speed on the odd occasion |
A 33:10 10k in 2009, aged 44, showed I could still pull out
a good run but I did little else for the rest of the year, the job, the
niggles, the uncertainties over redundancy and the studying to become a
Personal Trainer all seemed to take their toll. At the back end of 2009 my life
in Scotland was over, Carole, who I’d been with for a couple of years, took a
position in Cheshire and I had to make a decision about my future. The offer of
redundancy helped and I left behind my IT career, completed my training and
started life in Cheshire, as a Personal Trainer.
It was a hard time trying to get established in a new area,
particularly as we were living in a small village, but it did give me the time
to train hard and 2010 started with a bang, 1st M45 at Alsager, in a
time faster than when I’d been 1st M40 5 years earlier, 20th
and 1st M45 at the Trafford 10k, in my fastest 10k for years, 32:19,
and 2nd in the BMAF Cross Country Champs. Those were the good times,
a little niggle helped me to lose form but I was still good enough to take 2nd
in the BMAF 5k Champs and 3rd in the European Masters 10000m Champs.
After that I was exhausted, my form dwindled and a succession of niggles and
injuries have stopped me from regaining that form. I’ve had good runs during
the four years that have passed, I’ve won quite a few medals too, but in
particular these last two years have been a real struggle for me, going from
injury to injury. It’s the closest I’ve got to retirement since 1998, but there’s
something encouraging about seeing my mates and Salford colleagues running well
and it’s kept me going. This year’s been really hard I’ve had to work really
hard to run slow times, but these last three weeks I’ve been managing to train
properly for the first time in two years, yes there’s been pain but not the
pain you get when you’re training through an injury. A few weeks ago I ran a 5k
at the fast Christleton event and it was hard work to just break 17:30. Yesterday
I took part in the BMAF 5k Champs and felt much better running 17:11. Ok, I
know, It’s nothing special, the winning M45 time was 15:37 and there were three
more M45s under 16 minutes, including my team mate Gerry O’Neill, but it’s
progress towards something better and that’ll keep me in the game for a few weeks
more.
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| Back to form in 2005, 2nd BMAF XC M45 |
After all these years I know that all that’s stopping me
from getting back to the top of my form is a period of consistent hard
training, I’m hopeful I’ll get the chance to prove I’m right.
Written by Roger Alsop
