Purely personal perspective. No particular order.
1. Steve Ovett. Middle Distance track. A lot of other athletes wore him like a rucksac, for about 1300metres, until he undid the straps and jumped out to sprint past in the last 200. Master tactical racer, arguably prone to the odd mistake with that approach though. Big inspiration for me in my teens. Coe? No.
2. Edwin Moses. 400m hurdler. Any number of archive video snippets exist that are testimony to the mesmeric grace of this man's running. Putting aside the record number of race wins in a row, the various associated glories, and what he has done for the world of athletics, he was poetry in motion.
3. Usain Bolt. Sprinter. Likewise. Bang...whooosh. Just so eeeeasy!
4. Joss Naylor. Fells. (Thank you Karl for reminding me of a name here, so I didn't have to type "fell running shepherd" into the search engine! ) True grit. Embodies some of the spirit which I'm sure takes most Wooler RC members out to the hills. Seem to remember seeing something about Fell Running on World Of Sport once when I was but a lad, a strange juxtaposition to the usual football, rugby and wrestling. Would it have appeared there without this fellow following its path? I doubt it.
5. Kelly Holmes. Middle Distance track. Her double at 2004 Olympics was brilliant to watch. I love the photos of her just realising her victory in those races and bursting with the joy of the moment.
6. Bruce Tulloh. Middle Distance track. Although coming to the fore on the track in the late 50's/early 60's, this man's name came to my attention via a book he wrote later about his run across the USA. 'Four Million Footsteps' is the title to look for, and good luck to you should you try 'cos it's hard to come by! Several runners have made a similar slog across the States, but Bruce was the first and his book had me gripped. Endurance? In short; 44miles/day average for 65 days..... Energy gel, anyone?
No comments:
Post a Comment