New year brings new hope
Mud, Sweat and Tears sprung up in October, and since then the world has been a pretty gloomy place – financial catastrophes have been top of the bill, Afghanistan continues to rumble, add in floods, hurricanes and the Gaza conflict and well, you get the picture.
As far as running and athletics goes, its been a pretty good year. Bolt seized a mantle that for too long had been tainted with drugs, Haile made us realise that anything is still possible when it comes to distance running, the East African dominance of road running continues across the world (and off-road too, for that matter). In the UK it was announced that the 2009 Commonwealth Mountain and Ultra-running championships will take place in September – a great new event that we will back backing next year. The UK domestic scene of cross-country didn’t really get hearts racing, especially at senior level, and it was left to the juniors to show the way.
If one good thing can emerge from the global financial collapse, let’s hope it will be a return to our core humanistic values. For too long the “swashing of money” in race appearance fees and prize money for world records has meant that athletes worldwide, across disciplines have lost the meaning of true competition, for competition’s sake, with money chasing, clock-chasing and pace making the prime concerns on most start lines. Many runners have gone to any length necessary to win, this was hideously exposed in early 2008 with the case of Marion Jones. Okay not an off-road runner, but the trickle down effect of drugs in sport knows no bounds, and who is to say that the next generation of mountain runners will not be from generation EPO?
You could argue that with a lack of money in running – as cock sure sports marketing becomes corporate nervousness – the talent will disappear? Not so in my view, as those sports with the current biggest influxes of cash (US big league sports, F1, Football) will surely suffer the most. It is true that the likes of Rono, Ovett, Stuart, Naylor, Radcliffe, Waitz, DeCastella, Lopes, Wakihuri, Cram, Walker, Wyatt and Foster all emerged from humble beginnings, where the desire was to win coupled with a genuine love for their chosen sports and they would have run equally vivaciously and aggressively had the money not been there. So, if we return to the times of financial hardship I am confident that sporting excellence will still come through. I also hope that 2009 will bring a return to real racing, let’s lose some pace makers here and there and see great names in future distance running emerging – for all the right reasons.
So, why am I so hopeful in 2009? Well, for many of the above reasons I feel that we will see the young carrying the torch, their burning desires will pervade any global financial meltdown, as they dream of Olympic or championship gold, big marathon wins and the need to be the best that they can be. I feel that the popularity of cheap-as-chips mountain running will increase with the 2009 World event now having ‘championship’ status, add in the African’s continuing interest and we could see a richly deserved global presence for the sport – however, it will be sustainable growth as most top mountain runners are a breed apart and in it for the long haul. For the reasons laid out here marathon running could also return some true greats, and great races, once again – perhaps rivaling the days of the mid-80’s.
Rose tinted glasses? Well, think about it this way, if a lot of the big money was taken away from ‘private’ races and moved to championship and Olympic races, would that affect the sport, and the standard of racing? In the short-term times may not evolve as quickly as they have in the last decade, but if you subscribe to the belief that as humans evolve we become more efficient then we will naturally get faster, however runners will become tactically better, racing tenacity will become paramount and the overall goal for all will be to get to the finish line first and not to just run quickly, or ‘for the cash’.
Of course drugs will still make the headlines in 2009. It has been a shame to see a movement of the positive spotlight from the West to the East, the number of violations has increased as athletes have succumbed and been caught with evermore sophisticated systems. However, with WADA taking more and more proactive stances, increasing ban periods and the general castigation of cheats (even if some governing bodies are not actually stopping them competing) we will still battle the drugs problems hard, and must fight the long-war instead of the short-term battle.
So, yes, MST is hopeful that as a new year dawns there is plenty to be cheerful about. This is just one man’s view and whatever your hopes and beliefs we wish every reader a happy and healthy 2009.
