OOnRRUNn ttheheUN Aug 2011 MAGAZINE OF THE WELLINGTON SCOTTISH ATHLETICS CLUB INC Vol 8 WHERE DID ALL THE (WORLD- CLASS, NEW ZEALAND) MARATHONERS GO? Roger Robinson on the impact of professionalism CROSS COUNTRY SEASON REVIEWED Wet, muddy, hilly and fun! THE NATIONAL ROAD RELAY BECKONS Why we love road relays WHEN IS A MASTER REALLY A MASTER? RUNNING RESOURCES ON THE WEB CARSON TEARS THROUGH EUROPE 1 FUN RUN & WALK SERIES Weekly from August through to April! When every Tuesday from 2 August Distance 5km Start times Walkers: 5.30pm Joggers: 5.30pm Runners: 5.45pm Register from 5pm inside Chicago Sports Cafe, Queen's Wharf Entry fee $7 per person The Course Start/finish outside Ferg's Kayak's. Heads out to Oriental Bay and back again. Hugs the wharf round the side of Te Papa and along pathway out to Cable Street, around far side of Waitangi Park to Oriental Parade to turnaround - Sponsored By: back the same way to finish. Prize-giving Presented By: Join us after the run / walk at Chicago Sports Cafe for a free drink (a handle of Chicago Draft beer, juice or soft Wellington drink) and a short prize-giving. Spot prizes each week, Scottish and merit and participation prizes. Athletics *for full details on the series see the Scottish website: Club Inc. www.scottishathletics.org.nz 2 Contact [email protected] Contents From the Editor From the Editor 3 Well it continues to be a cracker season with club Obituaries: Venessa Green, Scott Warren 4 members getting well and Features: truly stuck into cross country Where did all the world-class (New 5 and now the road season. Zealand) marathoners go There has been a notable club Guest writer: Roger Robinson spirit this year at the various 2011 Cross country 9 Centre and National events to season in review date. Members appear more Grant McLean conscious than ever of the The National Road Relays: What it is 12 eff orts of their fellow runners all about getting out there and giving Todd Stevens it our best. Good stuff – keep Berlin calling: Carson on tour 14 it up! Hamish Carson This issue it is my great When is a master a master? 15 pleasure to have Roger Stephen Day Robinson on board again as a Running - a web guide: Some great 16 guest writer. Roger, always eloquent and full of wit, provides virtual running resources a revisionist view on the long-standing issue of where all Mandy Simpson our top marathoners have gone, is it the way the sport was Columns: professionalised in those heady days of the 1980s? We take Coaching: How to avoid over-racing 20 a look back at an exciting cross country season, which saw Edwin Massey strong Scottish activity from the local to the national level. The Trainer: DIY personal training 21 We get all excited about the pinnacle of the season the Ryan Woolley National Road Relays and why we love it. Team updates There is plenty more including: when is a master a master? Hear about web resources and form our regular coaching Days at the Races: 26 Lizzie Varley and training columns. Hope you enjoy! Karen’s Corner 27 Karen Rigby Grant McLean On the Run Contact: Wellington Scottish Athletics Club, PO Box 6239, Te Aro, Wellington Editor, Grant McLean Phone: (04) 4767-823 Email: [email protected] www.scottishathletics.org.nz Contributors: Michele Allison, Hamish Carson, Stephen Day, Christine Jones, Edwin Massey, Diane Morgan, John Leonard, Ryan Mahon, Nicole Mitchell, Andrena Patterson, Roger Robinson, Paul Rodway, Mandy Simpson, Stefan Smith, Bob Stephens, Todd Stevens, Lizzie Varley, Glen Wallis, Ryan Woolley If you have any comments or suggestions, Photography: Rowan Greig, Sharon Wray, photo of Roger Robinson by Rob Cross let the Ed. know: [email protected] Cover photo: James Coubrough captures the spirit of cross country, Dorne Cup 2011 (Photo: Rowan Greig) Follow us on facebook - http://www.facebook.com/wellingtonscottish Follow us on twitter - http://www.twitter.com/wgtnscottish 3 General Manager’s Report: Working to a Plan Todd Stevens It’s the time of year The Lifestyle Sports Waterfront 5km Series has when we can refl ect started up again on Tuesday nights. Last year’s on what has already series was very successful with an average of been a successful 120 competitors every Tuesday for 35 weeks. season and look Already this year competitor numbers are forward with great signifi cantly up on last year. While the series is anticipation to a great opportunity to recruit new members for the New Zealand Scottish, it also allows others to participate in Road Relay athletics and achieve personal success. Championships. The 5km series is an excellent contributor to the A lot of Scottish’s club’s fi nances. The fi nances have continued to success comes go from strength to strength and we are making from having a clear strategy: what do we want good progress towards our target of building to achieve and how are we going to go about a strong fi nancial base again after investing it. President Glen Wallis and the Management $170,000 in the clubhouse last year. Committee have laid an excellent foundation Coming up we have the “Old Timers’Day” on for the club and we are seeing the benefi ts fl ow. 27 August. This will be a great occasion where We have areas we need to improve on, but we many tall stories from years gone by will be have a plan. retold. And then it is up to Auckland for the Recruitment is a key focus for Scottish, as it Road Relay. The relay is covered elsewhere in the should be for any club. newsletter, so I will keep my piece brief. I’m sure Personally I get a lot of satisfaction from seeing the trip will be a highlight of the year. Around new members join the club, as I know the 130 club members will experience a great value-add these members will get. This year event on a great course. We will achieve a lot we have had over 70 new members, thanks to of success, but most importantly everyone will the hard work which our captains, in particular, return home thinking athletics is an awesome put into recruiting. It is great to see their eff orts sport to be involved with and Scottish is a rewarded. As a sport in general we are not great wonderful club to be a member of ... just like the at marketing ourselves. plan says. As existing members, we know the benefi ts of See you out on the roads, Todd belonging to the club. This year we produced a promotional fl yer listing the benefi ts of joining and this has been very useful in attracting people to the club. Our competitive results so far this season have been very pleasing. We have had individuals winning medals in most grades, and our teams (particularly in the senior and masters age groups) have been regular winners. Our strategic plan has results targets, and we are tracking nicely towards them. Pleasingly right down through the places in races many Scottish members have been recording personal best performances - and enjoying themselves. If all the club does is provide an environment for members to improve and enjoy their running and walking, then the club has gone a long way towards achieving its objective. 4 President’s piece Obituaries Glen Wallis Low participant rates at recent National Cross Venessa Ann Green (1970-2011) Country(?) Championships, and the number of Without question, Venessa , or “Ness,” who joined clubs who attended the Athletics New Zealand the club in 1996, thought of other people before AGM, are an indicator that with the exception herself, and this rare character trait was acted out of our elite athletes, many registered athletes on a daily basis. She would have been thrilled to struggle to connect to the activities of our know she was described by the NZ Police soon national body. after her accident, as a woman in her 20s who Unfortunately like most other sports, in order was possibly a fi tness fanatic. Ness, always in our to secure funding, signifi cant focus is allocated hearts. to achieving short-term outcomes (i.e. medals), at the expense of supporting and growing the sport at the grass-roots level where most of us are involved. NZ athletes are internationally enjoying a relative golden patch at the moment, but we cannot rely on a pull-strategy to attract and retain young athletes, especially when up against the profi le enjoyed by the major sports. Clubs, coaches and local offi cials are a sport’s lifeblood and when adequately supported, can and do make a diff erence. As stakeholders, we must chose to be part of the solution, and as a leading club, Scottish needs to be more proactive in ensuring our members’ ideas and concerns are given a voice and appropriately raised with ANZ. I know many of you will have strong opinions, and ideas on how Scott Warren (1979-2011) the objectives of the club, and ANZ can become better aligned. Scott Warren also joined the club in 1996. Scott was a very active member of the club as July was a very sad month for the club with the a junior athlete, and represented Wellington sudden and tragic loss of Venessa Green and on a number of occasions. Scott was Junior Scott Warren. Both will both be sadly missed Club Champion in 1998. In recent years, Scott as friends who shared our passion for running, would often come along to the club to support and they will be fondly remembered by many his mother, Margaret Bray.