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Roger Bannister Sub-4 Mile, Linwood
Well, Charlie & I may have been the only Westies brave enough to venture onto the Linwood track for the Roger Bannister sub-4 celebration mile.....and we may we may well have been cuffed by a woman, but don't worry, we didn't disgrace the good name of the club.
Shame on you Blair for not turning out. Campbell, Calder & Millen could have entered the anals(sic) of history in the same way as Bannister, Brasher and Chattaway all these years ago.
Looking down the list of runners and anticipated finish times, Charlie had to be forced onto the track to compete. Both of us were wearing regulation black and gold for the event, with Charlie's long shorts picking up the winning prize for the 1950's sporting gear look. Our tactics were obvious, we needed to bomb round the first three laps to avoid being lapped by Collette Fagen. We were praying that the crowds present for the relays earlier in the afternoon would disperse, but obviously the sight of our sleek sinewy bodies tearing round the track provided the highlight of the afternoon, and the sense of anticipation in the grandstand was high.
From the gun, we settled into our pre-race tactical positions; Charlie decided to sit off the back of the race to avoid any nudging; I settled slightly ahead, tucking in behind two Garscubians and a Bellahouston Road runner. Our tactics worked to perfection; not only did we avoid the ignominy of being lapped, I managed to sneak past a couple of guys in the last lap to take 8th place, my highest position in any race for at least 10 years!
It was a glorious event, held in the true Corinthian spirit of that famous Oxford mile 50 years ago. We did get medals for our performance, along with everyone else. And our times (5:28 and 6:24ish)....well we would have beaten 4 minutes had there not been a strong headwind down the home straight, isn't that right, Charlie?
Posted by Dave Calder on Sat 24 Apr 2004 | 1 comment
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cc said...
Thanks Dave for being kind with the 'diplomatic' report. Well what actually happened was that yours truly turned up and signed in for the open graded mile, putting down an estimated time of 7.30 due to extreme lack of training, and as the ex (bawbag) captain says, with a few Desperate Dan pies up my vest at the moment. Anyways, the sign in man tells me that there are a couple of good punters on about 4.45 and a few in the 5's and then me -- shit, at least 2 mins off the back. To console myself I take a walk up to Linwood's greatest investment in the last 15 years, that is the 'tartan' track and despite the balmy sun, my mood isn't lifted when I look at some of the juniors who are bombing round 800 metre relays in ridiculous times. At this point, there aren't many other seniors and none who recognise me so with hope in my heart, I keep looking for Dave and thinking that if he doesn't turn up, f*ck the two pound entry fee, I'm offski !!! Damn, sure enough, Dave is reliable as ever and turns up and despite my woes of gloom, is quite upbeat -- shit, does he not realise we are going to get gubbed here. Should have remembered that Dave has been running 3 times /week opposed to my once so I'm only talking for myself. I was hoping the junior prize giving before our mile would have got rid of most of the crowd but there were still too many spectators when we got called up to the line. Ah well, now or never, and as the gun went so did the other ten competitors, which saw me take a 90 degree swerve from lane 7 to lane 1 in the first ten yards to settle nicely at the back. Young Collette took off like she was doing a 200 and then and there I knew I was in a race of my own. Dave hugged behind a wee group of three and drafted nicely like the canny old racer he is but yours truly was well off the back and only had his own belly to draft off. The leader and Collette went well away with Dave's group gradually stretching, then I realised that despite being goosed on lap 3, the leader was closing about a hundred yards behind. With a quick burst of speed from 8 to 7 minute mile pace, I crested the line about twenty yards in front of the winner -- phew, that was close, I'd avoided being lapped and could now relax for my final lap and enjoy the views of the high rise flats around the track. Looking across the track, I'd 200 to go when the 2nd last man crossed the finish line; fek, that's an embarrassingly long way on yir tod but some conciliatory clapping eased the anguish. A medal for being last was great and I was satisfied with a 6 26 but Dave still gubbed me by a minute with 5 28. The winner did 4 44 with young Collette in 4 56 so I'm sure our good Westies would have been up there but hey, where were you? Ahh, that's right, The Proclaimers, Linwood no more -- maybe in another 50 years !!
Sunday 25th April 2004 7.59pm