Who’s Aging Now

I’ve been around the running scene for twenty five years, not as long as some of my peers but longer than some have lasted, perhaps I should be celebrating a silver jubilee after all I’m not used to sticking at something this long. I’m not sure what it is about running that’s made me stick to it, particularly as I’ve been through some particularly rough patches, but I’m not ready to give up on it yet. In fact I hope I’m still running in twenty five years time, though I accept I’ll be a lot slower by then. It doesn’t actually feel like twenty five years to me, perhaps I’ve enjoyed it too much, as I have such vivid memories of many of my races. Alas it is so, I am no longer the naïve twenty four year old, on Thursday I will turn forty nine, a bit older, a bit wiser, but still as eager to perform at my best.

I recall the early days, training from Belgrave Hall, seeing all the old men turning out for the Veterans races and thinking that I didn’t intend still running when I was their age, yet here I am, their age and beyond, and still running. I sometimes wonder what my younger club mates or the youngsters who toe the line of my races think as they look at this old man having the nerve to challenge them to a race, but at the end of the day it matters not a jot what they think and everything about what I think.

Funnily enough, although I’m quite happy to joke about my age and rapidly receding hairline, I don’t actually view myself as old. Perhaps it’s because I can’t actually see myself running, in my head I’m still the 29 year old who led the National 12 stage for almost the whole of my leg, or the 36 year old who led the National 12 stage for all of my leg, or even the 41 year old who took over in 2^nd in the Scottish road relays and handed over in the lead. Even though I’m now much slower, I’ll always feel I’m as good as I ever was, relatively speaking of course.

Leading the National 12 Stage in 1994, with International Terry West ready to pounce.

South of England 12 stage 2002, spot the difference

2013 Alsager 5, getting a little harder to lift that knee

Speaking of old runners it was good to hear of so many past greats turning out to support Herne Hill Harriers in Saturday’s Surrey League event, celebrating both 125 years of HHH existence and the life of HHH stalwart Stan Allen. I would have liked to have been there myself, having 17 years of Surrey Leagues behind me. Of course at Salford, we always have a number of past greats making up the numbers in our races, it’s inspirational to see so many of the O60s still taking part, still so enthusiastic, if nothing else it makes me feel young. But the Salford Masters don’t just make up the numbers, they make a difference, you have to be good to beat them. This Sunday we won the Men’s event in the Manchester Cross Country League, the six man team included M50 Derek Crewe and M60 Stan Owen – now that’s going some.

79 year old John Gebbels, proving age is no barrier

Written by Roger Alsop

www.rogeralsop.co.uk

Photos with thanks to Alan Mead, Rex Bale, Ray O'Donaghue and Bryan Dale

Going Down to Liverpool to Not do the County Champs

This weekend it was the county championships. I’ve done the counties many times before, mostly in Surrey, sometimes in the East District of Scotland and for the last two years in Cheshire. I’ve been reasonably successful in all of them but this year I decided I wasn’t interested.

The main reason was that I was concerned that running too much on mud would be detrimental to my achilles and, whilst it’s pretty much fixed, I have been training hard lately and it has started to ache a little. Had there been a Salford team in Cheshire or were my origins Greater Manc or Lanc then there would have been pretty much nothing that would have stopped me turning out but as the lone Salford Harrier in the Cheshire champs it’s a lonely place to be when you’re in pain. Too many years of running as the sole Herne Hill Harrier in Scotland and the North West meant I had very little interest in the event this year. True, for the last couple of years I’ve had good runs and been 2^nd M45 in Cheshire, it’s possible I could have made it three in a row or even gone one place higher, but we’ll never know now.

It was however good to see my colleagues and ex-colleagues doing so well in their respective champs; Tom Cornthwaite and Gary Priestley were 1^st and 2^nd in the Lancs, Joe Bailey took 2^nd in the Greater Mancs with Salford taking 1^st team. Back in Surrey it was good to see my old clubs doing well; Herne Hill Harriers took silver in the mens event with Belgrave bronze, also getting bronze in the womens event.

I do enjoy the counties, hopefully I’ll be much stronger next year and will feel more inclined to take part, especially if they move it back past 16 Jan so I’ll be fresh in the M50s instead of hanging on the the M45s, not that the M50s will be a pushover.   

Talking of old clubs it was with some surprise and a great deal of sadness that I heard, this week, of the death of one of the stalwarts of Surrey athletics, Stan Allen. I was only with Herne Hill Harriers for about seven years so I don’t feel qualified to say much about Stan’s athletic or club activities but like any athlete of my era, I knew Stan and Stan knew me. When I first met Stan I was a Belgrave Harrier and there was a bitter rivalry between the teams. Despite my twenty three years shared between the clubs I never really got to understand why this was and it almost stopped me from joining Herne Hill when I did, for fear of upsetting people at Belgrave, in the end I decided my future was more important than people getting upset over triviality. Despite this rivalry I personally always had a good relationship with members of Herne Hill Harriers, though it was a bit shaky with Geoff Jerwood for a while when he pushed me off the track in a sprint finish – getting back on the track and beating him that day was justice enough. With Stan I was for a while, during the early days, on the back foot, partly because of the club rivalry and partly because I didn’t fully appreciate his sense of humour, but over the years we both showed our endurance for our respective clubs and I found myself in races being cheered on by Stan, unless there was a Herne Hill Harrier nearby. Mutual respect brought us closer together and when I decided it was time to join Herne Hill, Stan was one of the first to welcome me onboard. Sadly my move to Edinburgh meant my contact with Stan was more correspondent than social, but he was a big man in a big club. All clubs can lay claim to people who stand out in the club, but Stan was more than this and his influence on athletics was evident by the many messages I’ve read on facebook. And that’s all I’m going to say, other than, next Saturday’s Surrey League match is set to mark the 125^th anniversary of Herne Hill Harriers, but it’s now a poignant reminder to one of Herne Hill’s greatest. I wish I could be there to help remember him but my thoughts will fly with you.

One of my favourite photos of Stan by Ray O'Donaghue, shows his loyalty to both club and family.

So because I told Carole I wasn’t racing this weekend she seized her opportunity and booked us in to see a pantomime in Liverpool. Yes pantomime that’s right. I used to love pantomimes, but we’re talking 40 odd years ago, I’ve kind of grown out of them a little since then, but Carole did explain it was a Rock n Roll panto, so I happily went along. To make it more worthwhile we decided to make a weekend of it and stay over. Naturally it was training first and I was flying in my run on Saturday morning, made me wonder if I should’ve entered the Cheshires afterall, but luckily I can carry that form over to something else. Then it was off to Liverpool to book into the hotel and wander. We visited the Liverpool museum, which was fascinating, a quick look at Liverpool 1 and back to the hotel to change for an early dinner at Alma de Cuba. The restaurant, along with the panto were recommended by some of Carole’s colleagues, and they were spot on. The food was great and the service matched it, mind you we were in at 17:00 so hardly busy. Then it was off to the theatre to pick up the tickets and enjoy, unfortunately not having the tickets in our hands meant Carole forgot which theatre we were due at, so we found ourselves at a theatre the other end of Liverpool. Luckily Liverpool isn’t that big and we made it back to the correct theatre (thank goodness for mobile phones) in time to get a drink in before the curtain went up. It was Aladdin at the Liverpool Playhouse and straight away I could tell I was going to enjoy myself, rock music, though some was a little suspect, childish jokes and a cast that was having so much fun it made me wish I was an actor. I even got up from my seat, waved my hands in the air when asked and sang along to some classic rock. What a great night. The next morning we were up and out for a run along the Mersey, not the most exhilarating run but at least I was running along a promenade rather than limping like last time we went away. It was a dry run but after breakfast we were in the Tate gallery as the rain started to come down, it was horrible cold drizzle so we decided it was time to head home instead and watch Nottingham Forest play West Ham in the FA cup.

The weather has been particularly bad in the UK these past weeks, but we’ve been sheltered from the worst of it in Cheshire, the grounds soggy and it’s as windy as anywhere else but the flooding hasn’t affected us. It’s not stopped me running, in fact I’ve done some good sessions in the wind, just means I have more kit to wash each week as I layer up.  

I’m still deciding on my next course of action, from a running perspective, I think I might venture back onto a cross country course for my next race but after that I’m going to work out what’s best for me long term.

Written by Roger Alsop

www.rogeralsop.co.uk