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From:
Date: 12/23/2002
Time: 8:27:12 PM
Remote Name: 212.159.53.252
Further to the question can Britain ever produce world-class endurance runners again? I would like to answer very definitely yes. If I did not believe this to be so a ceiling would be placed upon my aspirations as a coach and those of my athletes. However, I do believe there are a number of obstacles in Britain preventing greater success at the very highest level.
Among these the physiological and psychological preparation of athletes could be included. Previous articles on this page have already alluded to some of the shortcomings in the physiological preparation of many athletes, and whilst I am certain these articles have many valid points it should also be remembered that ultimately there are as many different way of training as there are athletes. Equally, there may well be deficiencies in the psychological preparation of British athletes. However, to talk of the poor physiological and psychological training/preparation of British athletes as the root of our current problems is to miss the point. Instead, I would like to suggest that it is the social, cultural and political frameworks that underpin sport, and in particular endurance running in Britain, that are at fault. The following, although narrow in its scope, may serve to support this view.
Through technological advances and innovations Britain has continued to change at an ever-increasing rate. These changes have had implications for every aspect of our lives, not least work, leisure and sport. To understand these changes it’s worth considering the shift in society brought about by the industrial revolution. Here, work, leisure and sport changed from being dictated by the ebb and flow of the seasons and external environment to being highly codified and rationalised. This shift did of course provide the foundation for the development of modern sport, including endurance running, as we recognise and understand it today. I believe we are currently viewing an equally seismic shift as a consequence of a ‘technological revolution’ within which work, leisure and sport are becoming increasingly fragmented, transitory and physically inactive. The problems for endurance running are obvious; there is no chance of success at any level if an athlete’s approach is fragmented, transitory or physically inactive.
Despite this ‘technological revolution’ there is the suggestion that people still seem to wish to have the possibility of aspiring to greatness through athletic achievement, or at least for the possibility to be there for someone else to do it. This point was given credence recently in a survey conducted by UK Sport. Here, it was announced that the population of Great Britain would rather see British international sporting success in athletics as opposed to any other sport. This of course could just be a reflection of the paucity of success in British sport this year. More positively for British athletics it could be an expression of the pride and joy felt by the nation in the athletic success at this years Commonwealth Games and European Championships. However, I suspect that it is the boundary between the general public and endurance running, and not athletics in general, that has been transgressed here.
Throughout 2002 the public felt an empathy with Paula Radcliff’s struggle, the years of torment, blood, sweat and tears, the selfless sacrifice to be suddenly supplanted by glorious success. This is what being British is all about, and the British public loved it. Finally, they had found a sporting icon that epitomised all that they were and all that they wanted to be. Now the world knew what it meant to be British, it suddenly didn’t matter if Brazil beat England in the World Cup, It didn’t mater that Scotland, Northern Ireland and Wales couldn’t even qualify, because were in possession of the world’s greatest ever female endurance runner, she’s like us and we’re like her. The trouble is, as a nation we’re nothing like her. The truth as to our national character, particularly with regard to sport, is slightly more unsettling. In reality we are dangerously inactive, and rather than gain our experience of sport practically at either a recreational or competitive level we are instead armchair experts. Here, we experience sport vicariously through television and the Internet in a manner that parallels a visit to the zoo, like the animals we admire athletes enormously but we wouldn’t want to live like one.
The society we live in has allowed us the option of becoming lazy and flabby, and as a nation we have grasped this opportunity with both hands; we have become drunk on the excesses of western culture. Ultimately the ‘technological revolution’ is facilitating a gradual transition from a modern to post-modern world in which our sport and leisure will become less recognisable in its current form, more hyper-real and virtual. Perhaps endurance running is one of the first victims of this shift.
I hope that through reading this short article I have opened up the possibility in people’s minds that there is more to the demise in British endurance running than just the type of training that some athletes either are or are not doing. In doing so I hope it will then be possible for people to discuss and propose solutions to a range of social, political and cultural issues negatively influencing endurance running in Britain. For example, how do we develop endurance running more effectively? How do we bridge the gap more effectively between school and club athletics? Is there enough sport/endurance running in schools? If there isn’t how do we encourage more and how should this activity be managed? For example, should endurance running be taught with a survival of the fittest attitude, or should it be focused more on the positive and pleasurable experiences that can be gained through running at your fittest irrespective of the normative level that may be at? Are the UK Athletics’ development co-ordinators doing a good job, or are they being prevented from doing a good job and how should their success be measured? What is the impact of university or work on a young athlete’s career? How do we counter a drink/drug culture (both performance enhancing and social/recreational)? Should we counter a drink/drug culture? Do governmental and local authority sports/athletics development schemes really develop sport, or are they just tools to address social ills such as, health, unemployment, solvent abuse, crime and regeneration/social inclusion etc? Should coaches, administrators, officials and those developing the sport be paid? Would clubs benefit from operating in a more professional manner?
This, of course, is not an exhaustive list of questions that need to be asked and answered. However, I believe that it is important that we recognise that the decline in British endurance running is a complex social issue that is currently, or has recently, also affected other sports, for example tennis, football, swimming and cricket etc, and that to address these issues we need to adopt a social/cultural/political perspective and not simply reduce the problem to one of physiological and psychological training.